SaRang Community Church Wins Appeal in Lawsuit Against Underground Chapel Restoration Order

Lower Court Ruling Overturned,
SaRang Community Church Wins Appeal

SaRang Community Church in Seoul has won its appeal in an administrative lawsuit against the Seocho District Office's order to restore its underground chapel to its original state.

On December 11, the 7th Administrative Division of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Koo Hoegeun) overturned the lower court's ruling, which had found in favor of the Seocho District Office, and ruled in favor of the plaintiff, SaRang Community Church, in the lawsuit to cancel the restoration order.

In 2010, the Seocho District Office granted permission for SaRang Community Church to use 1,077 square meters of underground road space near Seocho Station, on the condition that the church donate a portion of its newly constructed building and part of its road property for use as a daycare center and other facilities.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government later determined that Seocho District's permit was improper and demanded that the district correct the issue within two months. In response, Seocho District, disagreeing with the city's order, became the subject of a resident lawsuit filed by six individuals, including former Seocho District Council member Hwang Ilgeun, against the district mayor.

The first and second trials dismissed the plaintiffs' claims, stating that road occupancy permits are not subject to resident lawsuits. However, in a 2019 final appeal, the Supreme Court confirmed that the Seocho District Office's approval of SaRang Community Church's use of public roads was illegal. Following this ruling, the Seocho District Office, in 2020, ordered the church to restore the road occupancy to its original state. In response, SaRang Community Church filed an administrative lawsuit and an application for a stay of execution to cancel this order.

Previously, the first trial did not accept the church's position and ruled against the plaintiff in March of last year.

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