Uichang Small-Scale Fishery Cooperative "Cannot Exercise Property Rights, Stop Lawsuit on Ungdong 1 District"

As legal battles continue over the cancellation of the designation of the developer for the Ungdong 1 District development project in Jinhae, Changwon City, Gyeongnam Province, the Uichang Small-Scale Fishermen's Association has once again requested a halt to the lawsuit.

On the 13th, the association held a press conference at the Gyeongnam Provincial Government Press Center, stating, "The lawsuit related to Changwon City's Ungdong 1 District development project lacks justification and practical benefit," and added, "We suspect it is to allow only the private developer's golf course to operate."

They criticized, saying, "Changwon City's lawsuit against the agreement made by four administrative agencies and a private business operator is an act against administration using taxpayers' money."

Members of the association said, "In 1995, we gave up our livelihoods for the construction of Busan New Port and received 34,000 pyeong of land as compensation for livelihood measures; 30,000 pyeong was registered and transferred, but due to the lawsuit, we are only paying property taxes without exercising our property rights."

They urged, "Please exclude the association's land from the business area so that the association can smoothly exercise its property rights," and called for "withdrawal of the lawsuit and participation in the normalization plan of the Ungdong 1 District development project."

They added, "If the administration does not proceed smoothly, we plan to inform civic groups and the media, hold rallies, campaign for the mayor's resignation, and take legal action."

Uichang Small-Scale Fishery Cooperative members are urging Changwon City to withdraw the lawsuit related to the development project of Ungdong 1 District in Changwon, Gyeongnam.
[Photo by Se-ryeong Lee]

The Ungdong 1 District development project aimed to create golf courses, hotels, and other accommodation facilities by 2015, and leisure, cultural facilities, and a sports park by 2018, over an area of 2.22 million square meters in the Sudodong area of Jinhae-gu.

Designated as the developer in September 2008, Gyeongnam Development Corporation and Changwon City signed an agreement with the private developer Ocean Resort and proceeded with the project. However, after construction began in November 2013, only the golf course was completed by December 2017, and the other facilities have not even started.

As the project drifted for 13 years, the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone Authority decided to cancel the designation of Gyeongnam Development Corporation and Changwon City as developers to normalize the project and seek a new developer. In May, they also canceled the land use permit before the completion inspection.

In response, Changwon City filed a lawsuit seeking cancellation of the cancellation order and a provisional injunction, claiming the cancellation of the developer designation was unfair.

On the 5th, the 1st Administrative Division of the Busan District Court dismissed Changwon City's request for a suspension of execution regarding the cancellation of the land use permit before the completion inspection by the Free Economic Zone Authority last month.

The reason was, "Based solely on the materials submitted by Changwon City, it is difficult to see that the execution of the Free Economic Zone Authority's disposition would cause irreparable financial damage to Changwon City that cannot be compensated."

In June, the court also dismissed Changwon City's request for a suspension of execution to cancel the Free Economic Zone Authority's cancellation of the developer qualification for the same reason.

Earlier, Changwon City explained the reason for the lawsuit, saying, "If we lose the developer status, we will have to sell the land we currently own to the replacement developer at the development cost, so the damage will inevitably be borne by the citizens."

They stated, "Since Changwon City has done its best to promote the project normally, considering the project's importance and its impact on the local community, we will take legal action to maintain the developer status."

They added, "Separately from the lawsuit, we will actively cooperate with the Free Economic Zone Authority's request for support to normalize the Ungdong 1 District development project."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.