An appeals court has ruled that the development plan for the fourth floor of the Yongsan International Building, where six people including tenants and a police officer were killed in the Yongsan massacre, is invalid, saying that the building's owners were not properly informed about their property rights during the planning process. Reporter Jo Jung-hyun reports.






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<i>This is the 4th district of the Seoul International Building, where the Yongsan disaster took place in January last year.

There are still blackened scars on the walls of the building, a reminder of the tragedy.

The union is currently in the process of demolishing the building after finalizing compensation agreements with the victims.
The Seoul High Court overturned the trial court's decision and ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in an appeal filed by four members of Kukje Building 4 against the association on March 20 in a case to invalidate the management plan.

The court ruled that "despite changes in the major plans of the project, such as the appraised value and the amount of sales, the association did not observe due process by failing to notify the general meeting one week in advance."

[Interview]Hyun In-hyuk (Lawyer at Hanbyul Law Firm) / Attorney for the plaintiffs

"The changed agenda contained contents that affected the rights and obligations of the members, and as a result, the written resolution was made without such notice and was invalid because it affected the exercise of the members' property rights."

If the court's ruling is finalized by the Supreme Court, the association will have to go through the process of establishing a management plan again, which takes at least half a year.

Some members who claim that their property rights have been seriously violated are filing a lawsuit to confirm the invalidity of the association following the annulment of the management plan.<"According to the original plan of the construction companies and the union, the Kukje Building 4 should have been fully sold to the public last year, but the Yongsan tragedy greatly delayed the sales schedule, and with the court ruling, the sales will not be possible until the first half of next year."

The Kukje Building 4 development project, which was supposed to build the country's top luxury residential complex with the participation of major construction companies such as Samsung C&T, POSCO E&C, and Daelim Industries, has been slowed down by the Yongsan tragedy and a string of lawsuits.

MoneyToday's Choi Joong-hyun (we_friends@mtn,co.kr) reports from Seoul.