‘Together Geochang’ Geochang International Theater Festival Trademark Acquisition ... Request for Appreciation to Gyeongnam Province
by Choi Sungkyung
Published 31 Dec.2020 13:08(KST)
Updated 12 Aug.2025 20:47(KST)
Geochang-gun, which allowed sellers to set the sale price and agreed to pay 20 times the amount upon contract cancellation, must be held accountable for wasting public funds
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] The civic group in Geochang, Gyeongnam, ‘Hamkkehaneun Geochang’ announced on the 31st that it has filed a complaint requesting an audit by Gyeongnam Province regarding the ‘Geochang International Theater Festival trademark purchase contract’ by Geochang County and related matters, citing budget waste in Geochang County’s administration.
In the audit request complaint, ‘Hamkkehaneun Geochang’ stated, “More than 10 billion KRW of national, provincial, and county funds have been invested to develop the ‘Geochang International Theater Festival,’ but the trademark was registered by a private organization called the ‘Geochang International Theater Festival Executive Committee,’ and the county attempted to purchase it, resulting in an unreasonably preferential contract that cannot be understood by common sense, putting about 1 billion KRW of taxpayers’ money at risk of being wasted.”
They added, “This has completely destroyed all theater festival brands of Geochang County and even damaged the county’s image itself. Therefore, the public officials who signed such an absurd contract must be clearly identified and severely punished.”
‘Hamkkehaneun Geochang’ pointed out the county’s sloppy audit, noting that since administrative and financial support began in December 1997, the Geochang International Theater Festival has faced issues of subsidy mismanagement and transparency controversies. The executive committee’s representative was even fined 5 million KRW.
The civic group said regarding the trademark purchase contract, “Geochang County completely excluded the value of the national, provincial, and county funds invested so far in nurturing the ‘Geochang International Theater Festival’ and the participation and efforts of Geochang residents, allowing the executive committee itself to set an unlimited sales price.”
They added, “They drafted a contract with a sales price based on the price they calculated and the average price, which can only be described as an unreasonably preferential contract that cannot be understood by common sense.”
The civic group claimed, “Despite proposing such an absurd purchase condition, they included a clause requiring 20 times compensation in case of contract termination, making it inevitable to waste the county’s taxpayers’ money.”
‘Hamkkehaneun Geochang’ asserted that there was ‘dereliction of duty,’ ‘waste of taxpayers’ money,’ and ‘breach of trust in the course of duty’ by Geochang County officials related to the contract.
The civic group requested an audit from Gyeongnam Province, stating, “Sometimes cases are transferred to the Geochang County audit office, but we hope this case will never be one of them.”
They explained, “This matter is directly related to the Geochang County governor and involves officials under the governor’s absolute influence, so we are requesting an audit.”
The Gyeongnam Provincial Audit Office has begun ‘reviewing’ this audit request. The Geochang International Theater Festival, with a history of over 30 years, has recently experienced conflicts due to budget execution opacity, internal disputes within the organization, and audits.
Geochang County held a separate theater festival through the Geochang Cultural Foundation, and at one point, two similar festivals were held around the same time.
In 2018, Geochang County pushed for the transfer of the Geochang International Theater Festival trademark rights, and the county and the executive committee signed a contract in December of that year to determine the price through a trademark appraisal, but the appraisal values from both sides’ evaluation teams differed significantly.
The executive committee filed a claim lawsuit in May 2019, leading to a legal battle. On November 13 of this year, the court partially ruled in favor of the plaintiff, ordering Geochang County to pay 1.735 billion KRW to the executive committee.
On December 4, Geochang County agreed with the executive committee to transfer the theater festival trademark for 1 billion KRW, and the executive committee withdrew the related lawsuit.
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