Change in Designated Travel Agency Criteria, Cancellation Without Notice... Supreme Court "Illegal"

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Supreme Court has ruled that canceling the designation of a dedicated travel agency without notifying the changed evaluation criteria for selection is illegal.

On the 17th, the Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Ahn Cheolsang) overturned the lower court's ruling that dismissed the appeal filed by travel agency A, a dedicated China travel agency, against the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's refusal to renew designation, and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court.

The dedicated China travel agency system allows the attraction of group tourists from China only through a specific travel agency. Agency A, designated as a dedicated travel agency in 2006, failed the evaluation in November 2016 due to point deductions exceeding the re-designation failure criteria, including violations such as employing unqualified guides.

However, Agency A argued that the criteria that became the reason for cancellation of re-designation were not announced before the evaluation, and thus the disposition was invalid.

The first trial ruled in favor of Agency A, stating that there was procedural illegality violating the Administrative Procedures Act. The court interpreted, "The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism did not announce the 2016 renewal evaluation criteria, and Agency A could not have predicted that it would be canceled solely due to point deductions."

The second trial reversed the decision. It ruled that even if the Ministry did not announce the renewal evaluation criteria in advance, it is difficult to see that the Ministry exercised its authority arbitrarily or failed to guarantee administrative transparency and predictability solely on that basis.

The Supreme Court pointed out the Ministry's fault for not notifying the change in criteria in advance. The court stated, "The government's refusal to renew the dedicated travel agency designation based on post-changed disposition criteria is illegal as it goes against the legislative intent of the prior announcement system for disposition criteria."