[Opinion] Who Has Devastated Sky 72 Golf Course?

Sky 72 Operating Illegally Without Going Out, Earning Hundreds of Billions
Impossible to Compare with Tenants Evicted After Running Chicken Shops
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Incheon Metropolitan City, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Watch from Afar
Public Officials Turning a Blind Eye to Illegal Activities Harm Society

▲Nawan Su, Representative of Hwanghae Law Firm

Incheon International Airport Corporation (Airport Corporation) developed 'Sky72,' a representative public golf course in the metropolitan area, through a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) private investment method in 2002, but it is now becoming dilapidated.

Although the golf course usage period ended on December 31, 2020, the private investment operator, Sky72 Co., Ltd., has continued to operate the golf course without handing it over to the corporation and is occupying it unlawfully. It is estimated that the current operator has recovered 150 billion KRW in golf course facility investment costs during the operation period and earned approximately 200 billion KRW in profits.

Unlike general leases, private investment projects guarantee long-term usage rights of about 20 years to recover investment costs. This project not only recovered the investment but also achieved a return rate exceeding 10 times (over 100%) compared to other private investment projects (average return rate around 10%). In other words, it was a blockbuster project.

In typical private investment projects, the usage period is set based on profitability forecasts to recover investment costs. The fact that this project earned significant expected profits beyond investment recovery indicates that the usage period was sufficiently long.

Some civic groups claimed that Sky72 was unfairly evicted and requested a public audit from the Board of Audit and Inspection, but comparing a company that earned hundreds of billions of won using public assets for nearly 20 years to a tenant evicted from a chicken restaurant is unreasonable.

However, one strange thing is that despite the seriousness of this incident, related agencies are quietly watching from the sidelines. In the past, government-related agencies such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which supervises airports, Incheon Metropolitan City, which registers and supervises golf courses, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the golf course’s competent authority, would have all stepped in to resolve the issue.

But regarding this dispute, no agency or stakeholder has convened a single meeting. Incheon Metropolitan City and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which received requests to stop illegal operations through appropriate supervisory actions such as administrative measures since the golf course’s land usage rights have expired, claim that there is no clear legal basis for administrative actions such as cancellation of registration under the Physical Education Facilities Act or orders to re-secure land usage rights, and thus require detailed legal review. They have done nothing themselves and have left the matter to higher authorities for legal interpretation while taking no action.

Experts point out that there are many Supreme Court precedents stating that administrative actions such as cancellation of registration are possible even without legal grounds when the registered object (lawful land usage rights) disappears or when there is a public interest necessity (such as preventing damage to public assets and disruption of legal order), as in the case of Sky72 golf course.

During the past four months while related agencies have been inactive, the current operator is reportedly earning over 200 million KRW per day through illegal operations. This is clearly not the result desired by Incheon City and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Furthermore, due to the lack of proper management, the golf course condition has deteriorated, causing complaints from golfers.

The current operator is turning public assets into a means of profit through illegal operations, and while responsible authorities are neglecting the situation, Sky72 golf course is deteriorating. The Sky72 incident clearly shows that the attitude of public officials who shift responsibility, avoid risks, and ignore illegalities harms our society as much as corruption does.