Chaebol Chairmen Clash Over Han River Views in Hannam-dong

Another dispute over residential view rights has broken out between conglomerate tycoons.

Chairman A is building a luxury home in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, prompting Chairman B to seek a legal judgment on the grounds that the project infringes on his view.

According to business and legal circles on August 15, Chairman B filed an application for an injunction to suspend construction with the Seoul Western District Court on May 14, claiming that Chairman A's house being built in front of his own towers higher than surrounding homes and blocks his view of the Han River.

Chairman A is constructing a detached single-family house with two basement levels and two above-ground floors, spanning a total floor area of 2,014.19 square meters (about 609 pyeong), on a vacant lot directly in front of the property where Chairman B currently resides.

The construction period runs from April 4 of last year to December 1 of this year.

At the construction site for Chairman A's new home, the steel-reinforced concrete structure of the building under construction was indeed one to two floors higher than neighboring houses.

Consequently, looking toward the Han River from beside Chairman B's house, Mapo Bridge and the Han River were blocked from view.

The court reviewing the injunction application acknowledged that Chairman A's new home would impose some limitations on the Han River view from Chairman B's residence.

However, it determined that because Chairman A's house is located diagonally rather than directly in front of Chairman B's house, the view would not be completely cut off.

Furthermore, stating that the structural framework of the new building was already complete and thus there was no practical benefit to halting construction, the court dismissed the injunction application on July 27.


In his injunction application, Chairman B also raised issues such as potential violations of architectural laws by Chairman A's building and flaws in the building permit process.

The court did not issue a separate judgment on these matters, stating they must be settled through a principal lawsuit.

Chairman B's side filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Administrative Court in June against the head of Yongsan-gu Office seeking to nullify the building permit for Chairman A's house.

The house being built by Chairman A is located on a slope with roads bordering both the front and back of the property.

Chairman B's side argues that the project violates building laws stipulating that when a plot borders two or more roads, the building height must be calculated based on the widest road.

Their position is that Chairman A obtained a building permit based on a narrow road located at a higher elevation, thereby unlawfully increasing the building's height.

They also claim that administrative authorities failed to properly review and approve development activities regarding the grading work performed by Chairman A's side to raise the ground level.

In particular, Chairman B plans to newly build his own home on the vacant lot directly behind Chairman A's property.

He contends that Chairman A's house, built higher than surrounding homes, could directly infringe upon the view from the residence he plans to construct.

Chairman B's side has also taken issue with the fact that Chairman A's property includes a road purchased from Yongsan-gu for about 2.7 billion won in November 2022.

At the time, Yongsan-gu changed the designation of a portion of that road site to a building plot and sold it to Chairman A's side, which owned the adjacent land.

Yongsan-gu explained that it took this action after judging the administrative property to have no value, considering that it was occupied by Chairman A's structures and functioned as a dead-end alley with little traffic.

A Yongsan-gu official stated, "Because it was not being utilized for administrative purposes such as a road, we abolished its designation and sold it in accordance with disposal procedures."

However, Chairman B's side maintains that a judicial ruling is necessary to determine whether there were any flaws in Yongsan-gu transferring the road site to Chairman A's side.

As a principal lawsuit takes a long time to yield results, Chairman B's side has filed an appeal with the court, asking for a reassessment starting from the injunction application.

Chairman A's side stated, "This is a matter where the legal legitimacy and safety of the construction have been objectively proven by the dismissal of the injunction."

They added, "The project is proceeding through proper procedures after receiving confirmation of legality from the Yongsan-gu Office."

Back in 2009, Chairman B also filed an injunction to halt construction against a house being built directly in front of his residence by Chairman C, leading to a legal dispute.

At that time, the Seoul Western District Court granted the injunction, judging that the construction of Chairman C's house would block Chairman B's view toward the Han River.

The conflict concluded after Chairman C's side agreed to lower the height of the new building.

Even earlier, in 2005, clashes between two tycoon family chairmen over views from their homes in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, drew public attention.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.