Court: "Claim of about 21.4 billion won possible against former Mayor Lee and Korea Transport Institute"
The court has ruled that the responsibility for the Yongin Light Rail Transit (LRT) project, which has recorded deficits every year, lies with the former mayor of Yongin and others.
The Seoul High Court Administrative Division 10 (Presiding Judges Seong Suje, Yang Jinsu, Ha Taehan) on the 14th ruled partially in favor of the plaintiffs in the remand trial of the residents' lawsuit seeking over 1 trillion won in damages for the Yongin LRT.
The court decided that the former mayor of Yongin, Lee Jeongmun, and the Korea Transport Institute, which conducted the demand forecast, should be held liable for approximately 21.4 billion won.
The court stated, "Former Mayor Lee failed to conduct even the minimum validity verification of the Korea Transport Institute's excessive demand forecast, used it as the basis for the implementation agreement, which included terms unilaterally favorable to the project operator, and significantly neglected his duty of care as mayor. Despite involving large financial expenditures, he did not comply with legally required procedures such as prior approval by the Yongin City Council, which constitutes gross negligence."
Furthermore, the court found the Korea Transport Institute responsible for errors in the LRT demand forecast. The court ruled, "The Korea Transport Institute made mistakes in the feasibility analysis of the Yongin LRT construction by basing it on an excessive demand forecast, causing damage to Yongin City. The institute's negligence is also recognized for producing forecast data based on past information despite changes in the environment surrounding the LRT."
However, the court ruled that the successors of former Mayor Lee, Seo Jeongseok and Kim Hakgyu, bear no liability for damages.
Yongin City, during Kim's tenure as mayor, received a contract termination notice from the Canadian operator Bombardier ahead of the LRT opening in 2011 and engaged in legal disputes, ultimately losing in international arbitration and paying compensation of 778.6 billion won (including interest, over 850 billion won). In response, the residents' lawsuit group filed a residents' lawsuit in October 2013 against Kim and other responsible parties, seeking damages amounting to approximately 1.0032 trillion won.
The first trial recognized liability only for former Mayor Kim and his policy advisor Park, ordering damages of 550 million won and partially ruling in favor of the plaintiffs. The second trial recognized liability only for Park, calculating damages of 1.025 billion won.
Both the first and second trials effectively ruled against the plaintiffs, either by deeming the residents' lawsuit inappropriate or by concluding that no liability for damages arose.
However, the Supreme Court remanded the case for reconsideration regarding the illegal acts and intent or negligence of the contracting parties and the damages to the local government.
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