Supreme Court Rules Seoul Must Pay 42.1 Billion Won in Gyeongui Line Forest Park Fees

▲ A view of the Gyeongui Line Forest Park

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Seoul Metropolitan Government must pay the usage fees imposed by the Korea National Railway for the site of the Gyeongui Line Forest Park.

The Supreme Court's Second Division (Presiding Justice Um Sang-pil) finalized the lower court's ruling against the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by Seoul against the Korea National Railway to cancel the imposition of compensation fees.

Dismissing Seoul's appeal, the Supreme Court stated, "It cannot be seen that the Seoul Metropolitan Government has the right to occupy and use the site free of charge based on an agreement or has a legal status that justifies such occupation and use."

The Gyeongui Line Forest Park is a park created along a roughly 6.3-kilometer section between Hyochang Park Station and Gajwa Station.

Built after putting the Gyeongui Line railway underground, it was shaped into its current form following a promise of "free use of state-owned land" included in a 2010 agreement between the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Korea National Railway.

However, problems arose when the Enforcement Decree of the State Property Act was amended in April 2011.

Under the revised decree, it became impossible to lease state-owned land free of charge for more than one year.

The railway authority renewed the free use permit for a period of one year in 2016 but did not renew it further, subsequently imposing 42.1 billion won in compensation fees—which are usage fees for state property—for the period between November 2020 and May 2023.

In response, the Seoul Metropolitan Government filed a lawsuit in February 2021 to cancel the compensation fees.

After three years of trial, the first instance court ruled in favor of Seoul in January 2024, stating that the Gyeongui Line Forest Park was not subject to the imposition of compensation fees.

The first instance court's judgment was that Seoul had the right to occupy and use the ground-level site of the Gyeongui Line free of charge pursuant to the agreement.

However, the second instance court overturned this in February of last year, ruling in favor of the Korea National Railway.

The second instance court judged that "it cannot be considered that the Seoul Metropolitan Government has the right to occupy and use the ground-level site of the Gyeongui Line free of charge for as long as the Gyeongui Line Forest Park facilities remain, based on an agreement or otherwise."

Although Seoul appealed once again, the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion.

The Supreme Court found no fault with the appellate court's judgment, which held that there was insufficient evidence to acknowledge that the railway authority had made an official expression of intent to provide the site to Seoul free of charge, and therefore the imposition of compensation fees did not violate the principle of protection of trust.

(Photo courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government, Yonhap News)

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