Request for Disclosure of Others' Agricultural Compensation Amounts... "Should Be Disclosed as It Cannot Be Considered Personal Information That Infringes on Privacy"

The court ruled that even if the Korea Land and Housing Corporation discloses the locations and amounts of agricultural loss compensation received due to residential land development projects, there is no concern of infringing on the privacy or freedom of the information subjects, so disclosure is permissible.

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The Seoul Administrative Court, Administrative Division 11 (then presided by Chief Judge Kang Woo-chan), on February 6, partially ruled in favor of plaintiff A in the lawsuit (2023GuHap351) filed against the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) seeking cancellation of the refusal to disclose information.

A, who serves as the CEO of an agricultural corporation cultivating Sanghwang mushrooms in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province, was informed by LH in November 2021 to apply for agricultural loss compensation after the mushroom cultivation site was included in the new city to Ilsan road expansion project by LH, and applied around that time.

However, when A received less agricultural loss compensation than expected, he requested information disclosure from LH in June 2022 regarding the locations and amounts compensated due to the project, the amount compensated to a similar Sanghwang mushroom farm, and the reasons for calculating those amounts.

LH refused A’s request on the grounds that it could infringe on the privacy or freedom of others. A filed an objection, which was dismissed, leading him to file a lawsuit.

The court partially accepted A’s claims.

The court stated, "The information A seeks to disclose includes only the locations and amounts compensated related to the development project, the amount compensated to one Sanghwang mushroom farm, and the reasons for calculating the amount, and does not include personal information such as names, contact information, resident registration numbers, account numbers, or addresses. Therefore, even if disclosed, it is difficult to see that it would infringe on the privacy or freedom of those compensated in the development project."

Furthermore, the court explained, "The refusal to disclose the relevant information based on Article 9, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 6 of the Information Disclosure Act is unlawful."

Han Su-hyun, Legal News Reporter

※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.