Supreme Court Confirms Auction of MB's Nonhyeon-dong Residence... Dismisses Appeal Without Deliberation

Former President Lee Myung-bak's residence in Nonhyeon-dong, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Former President Lee Myung-bak and his wife have ultimately lost an administrative lawsuit claiming the public auction disposition of their residence in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, was invalid.

According to the legal community on the 23rd, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Noh Jeong-hee) dismissed the appeal without oral argument on the 19th, filed by the former president and his wife against Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO) in the final appeal of the lawsuit seeking confirmation of invalidity of the public auction disposition. This was after they contested the second trial's ruling against them.

An appeal dismissal without oral argument is a system under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Appeal Procedure of the Supreme Court, where the Supreme Court dismisses an appeal without reviewing the merits if there is no significant legal violation or other grounds for appeal as prescribed by law, except in criminal cases.

In April 2018, the prosecution indicted the former president on charges including bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and requested seizure and preservation of some of his assets, leading the court to freeze the Nonhyeon-dong residence and other properties.

Subsequently, in October 2020, the Supreme Court confirmed a sentence of 17 years imprisonment, a fine of 13 billion KRW, and a confiscation of 5.78 billion KRW for the former president. The prosecution then entrusted KAMCO with conducting a public auction to collect the fine and confiscation. The Nonhyeon-dong building and land were auctioned off in July for 11.156 billion KRW.

The former president and his wife, each holding half of the shares in the Nonhyeon-dong building, filed lawsuits claiming that collectively transferring the property through public auction was improper and requested confirmation of the invalidity of KAMCO's public auction disposition along with cancellation of the sale decision. However, they lost in both the first and second trials.