Court Dismisses Injunction to Ban Funeral of Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon... "Applicant Lacks Standing and No Demonstrated Need for Preservation" (Comprehensive)

On the 12th, one day before the funeral of the late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, visitors continued to pay their respects at the Seoul City Hall civic mourning site. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The court dismissed the injunction request to prohibit holding the funeral of the late Mayor Park Won-soon as a Seoul Metropolitan City funeral. Accordingly, Mayor Park's memorial service scheduled for the 13th can proceed as planned.

The court ruled that the applicants lacked standing to file the injunction because they did not file a prior audit request, which is a prerequisite procedure related to the residents' lawsuit. Furthermore, even if the defect in standing was remedied by filing an audit request after the injunction application, the court stated that the necessity for preservation to grant the injunction was not demonstrated.

The Seoul Administrative Court, Administrative Division 6 (Chief Judge Lee Seong-yong) dismissed on the 12th the injunction application filed by 227 citizens, including Mr. Kim, against the Seoul Mayor, requesting to suspend the continuation of funeral procedures or the execution of funeral expenses to preserve the "right to demand suspension of illegal financial accounting acts under the residents' lawsuit according to the Local Autonomy Act."

Dismissing means a decision that ends the trial procedure without judging the plaintiff's main claim or the applicant's purpose when the lawsuit or application does not meet the requirements.

The court stated, "The residents' lawsuit under Article 17, Paragraph 1 of the Local Autonomy Act is a lawsuit filed by residents of a local government against illegal financial accounting acts of that local government, serving as a system to monitor the administration of the local government through residents' autonomy and to ensure the financial soundness of the local government."

It added, "This is an objective lawsuit that does not presuppose the plaintiff residents' 'legal interest infringement,' corresponding to a public interest lawsuit under the Administrative Litigation Act. Article 45 of the Administrative Litigation Act stipulates that 'public interest lawsuits can only be filed by persons prescribed by law in cases prescribed by law.'"

The court pointed out, "To ensure the smooth operation of local government administration and to prevent interference with the independent and proactive performance of duties by local public officials, the fulfillment of litigation requirements prescribed by law must be strictly required not only in the main lawsuit but also in the injunction application procedure. The Local Autonomy Act stipulates that only residents who have filed an audit request can file a residents' lawsuit, but there is no evidence that the applicants filed an audit request to the Minister of the Interior and Safety, the competent minister, according to Article 16, Paragraph 1 of the Local Autonomy Act at the time of this application."

It continued, "Even if an audit request was filed after the injunction application, it is difficult to consider that the defect was remedied in light of the principle of 'statutory public interest lawsuits' mentioned earlier. Therefore, this application was filed by persons lacking standing and cannot be considered a legitimate application," explaining the reason for dismissal.

The court further stated that this injunction application corresponds to a 'satisfaction injunction' aimed at achieving the same purpose as the judgment sought through the original lawsuit, and thus the necessity for preservation was judged more strictly.

The court said, "Even if the defect in standing is remedied by filing an audit request after this application, this application corresponds to a 'satisfaction injunction' aiming for a result similar to the judgment of the main lawsuit in light of the purpose and cause of the application, so the necessity for preservation must be judged more carefully. Considering all the materials submitted by the applicants, it is insufficient to conclude that the necessity for preservation is demonstrated," it added.

This injunction application was represented by lawyer Kang Yong-seok, who operates the conservative-leaning YouTube channel 'Garoseuro Research Institute' (Gaseyeon).

Earlier, Gaseyeon claimed that the Seoul city decided to hold the funeral as a Seoul Metropolitan City funeral without legal grounds, arguing that there were procedural problems.

Gaseyeon stated, "Seoul City is estimated to spend more than 1 billion KRW of public funds on funeral expenses, which is a matter concerning the expenditure of public funds by local governments. Therefore, the applicants, as residents of Seoul City, have the right to file a residents' lawsuit demanding suspension of all or part of the continuation of the funeral procedures or the execution of funeral expenses that are illegal and against public interest under Article 16 of the Local Autonomy Act (Residents' Audit Request)."

Gaseyeon added, "The applicants plan to file such a residents' lawsuit in the future, but the funeral procedures for the deceased are scheduled to end on the 13th before the lawsuit is finalized. Therefore, there is an urgent need to order the suspension of the continuation of funeral procedures or the execution of funeral expenses to preserve the 'right to demand suspension of illegal financial accounting acts under the residents' lawsuit' according to Article 17, Paragraph 2, Item 1 of the Local Autonomy Act," explaining the background of the injunction application.

On the other hand, Seoul City argued that "the decision was made lawfully after reviewing relevant regulations," and countered that Gaseyeon is making an excessive attack to tarnish the funeral.

In particular, Seoul City pointed out that Gaseyeon's failure to file the prerequisite audit request while applying for the injunction as part of the 'residents' lawsuit' challenging the expenditure of public funds is procedurally problematic.

The court accepted Seoul City's argument and dismissed the injunction application.

The funeral committee for Mayor Park plans to hold the memorial service scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on the 13th online, considering cooperation with COVID-19 prevention measures.