Supreme Court Rules Seoul Must Pay 42.1 Billion Won in Penalties for Unauthorized Occupation of Gyeongui Line Forest Park

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Seoul Metropolitan Government must pay 42.1 billion won in penalty fees to the Korea National Railway for using the land designated as the Gyeongui Line Forest Park without authorization.

The Supreme Court's Second Division (presiding Justice Um Sang-pil) finalized the lower court's ruling in favor of the defendant today (August 12), dismissing the lawsuit filed by Seoul against the Korea National Railway to cancel the penalty imposition.

The Supreme Court stated, "It cannot be viewed that the Seoul Metropolitan Government has the right to occupy and use the site free of charge based on agreements, nor can it be seen as holding a legal status that justifies such occupation and use," thereby dismissing Seoul's appeal.

The Gyeongui Line Forest Park is a park created by burying the Gyeongui Line railway underground along a roughly 6.3-kilometer section between Hyochang Park Station and Gajwa Station, following a 2010 agreement between Seoul and the Korea National Railway. The section around Yeonnam-dong in Mapo-gu is also widely known as "Yeontral Park."

The agreement included provisions stating that the railway authority would "cooperate on matters such as land use for Seoul's creation of a park on the surface level of the Gyeongui Line," while Seoul would "cooperate on licensing and approvals related to the railway authority's station-area development."

The railway authority granted Seoul permission to use the surface land for a free-of-charge period of five years (from July 2011 to July 2016) in 2011, and renewed the permission for another year in July 2016.

In May 2017, the railway authority notified Seoul that it planned to process the land under paid-use terms after the expiration of this period, and the railway authority did not accept Seoul's request to renew the free-use period.

This was because, under the enforcement decree of the State Property Act revised in April 2011, leasing state-owned land free of charge for one year or longer became prohibited.

Claiming that "Seoul occupied the surface land without authorization from July 2017 to December 2022," the railway authority imposed approximately 42.1 billion won in penalty fees across four installments between November 2020 and May 2023.

Objecting to this, the Seoul Metropolitan Government filed a lawsuit in February 2021 to cancel the penalty.

Following a three-year trial, the first-instance court ruled in favor of Seoul in January 2024, stating that the Gyeongui Line Forest Park was not subject to penalty fees.

The first-instance court interpreted the agreement between Seoul and the railway authority as "granting the right to use the site free of charge until the park facilities of the Gyeongui Line Forest Park cease to exist or a change in ownership of the park facilities takes place."

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

The appellate court judged that "it cannot be considered that the Seoul Metropolitan Government has the right to occupy and use the surface land of the Gyeongui Line free of charge for as long as the Gyeongui Line Forest Park facilities remain, nor does it hold a legal status justifying the occupation and use of the surface land."

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

The Supreme Court also held that the railway authority's imposition of penalties did not violate the principles of trust protection or proportionality.

It noted that there was insufficient evidence to recognize that the railway authority had made an official statement indicating it would provide the land free of charge.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government also argued that the enforcement decree provision prohibiting the free lease of state-owned land for a year or longer exceeded the delegation of the parent statute, but this argument was not accepted.

As the railway authority imposed 42.1 billion won for the period spanning 2017 to 2022, the total penalties Seoul must pay are expected to increase significantly when accounting for subsequent unauthorized occupation periods.

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