Trains stand frozen like fixtures at the station, with layers of thick dust blanketing the rails.
A private operator borrowed funds backed by Namwon City's guarantee to build an amusement facility, but after struggling with operational difficulties, it shut down just a year and a half later.
Ultimately, Namwon City stepped in this February to repay 50.5 billion won on their behalf.
However, it has been revealed that a monorail maintenance contractor, having failed to receive payment from the private operator, applied for a court auction of the station to secure its claims.
Three station buildings of the Namwon Monorail, which has been halted for over two years, have recently been put up for court-ordered compulsory auction.
This is because their ownership still remains with the private operator.
Originally, the private operator was supposed to donate the facilities to Namwon City after construction, but the city declined to accept them.
As a result, even after taking on a financial burden exceeding 50 billion won and failing to take over the facilities, the city now faces a situation where some parts of the facilities could end up in the hands of a third party.
[Kang Dong-won / Rebuilding Korea Party Regional Chairman: It is not even our property, and with the auction applied for, we are in a situation where we have to re-acquire it. After that, the issues of whether to actually demolish it or restart its operation still remain.]
Namwon City has filed a reimbursement lawsuit against the private operator to recover the funds it paid on their behalf, and is pursuing measures to secure ownership of the facilities through auctions and other means.
[Noh Kyeong-rok / Head of Tourism Division, Namwon City: Right after losing the Supreme Court case, we immediately proceeded with a reimbursement lawsuit to secure our claims, with the strategy of using that to acquire the real estate and tangible personal property.]
However, securing the stations through an auction does not solve all problems.
Separate from the real estate, the ownership of the remaining facilities, such as the tangible personal property including the rails, monorail cars, and electrical equipment, also needs to be sorted out.
In particular, if a third party wins the bid for the stations and engages in speculative land holding tactics, Namwon City's plans to take over and operate the facility will inevitably become entangled.
Even if monorail operations resume, the additional costs required for safety inspections and repairs of facilities that have been suspended for a long period remain a variable.
Namwon City has been left without facility ownership even after paying off a 50 billion won debt.
A situation continues where officials can only sigh over how much more time and money will be needed to clean up the monorail mess.
(Reported by Kim Min-ji of JTV News | Producer: Lee Seyoung | Video by Kwon Man-taek from JTV | Produced by SBS Digital News)
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