The legal dispute between Changwon City and the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone Authority (BJFEZ) over the status of the project developer for Woongdong 1 District in Jinhae, Changwon Special City, Gyeongnam, is expected to continue further.
According to Changwon City on the 9th, the 1st Administrative Division of the Busan District Court has decided to resume the hearing in the lawsuit filed by the city against BJFEZ, seeking to overturn the cancellation of the designation of the Woongdong 1 District development project developer.
Instead of the ‘preliminary defense on the merits’ originally scheduled for the 11th of this month, the court will hold the main trial on August 29.
The preliminary defense on the merits, also known as a procedural defense, is a request to dismiss the plaintiff’s claim on the grounds that the lawsuit does not meet the necessary requirements.
The court appears to have resumed the hearing without the preliminary defense, judging that Changwon City’s claim is appropriate, despite BJFEZ’s argument that it was improper for Changwon City, as a co-developer with Gyeongnam Development Corporation, to file the lawsuit alone.
The Woongdong 1 District development project in Jinhae aims to create accommodations, leisure, and resort facilities on a 2.25 million square meter site in Sudo-dong, Jinhae-gu, Changwon City. Construction began in November 2013, but progress halted in December 2017 with only a golf course completed.
Previously, BJFEZ determined that Changwon City and Gyeongnam Development Corporation, as co-developers, were responsible for the prolonged delay. On March 30 last year, BJFEZ revoked their developer designation and canceled the land use permit before completion inspection, in accordance with the Special Act on the Designation and Operation of Free Economic Zones.
Gyeongnam Development Corporation accepted this decision, but Changwon City filed a lawsuit in May of that year, arguing that BJFEZ’s action was unjust. In July, the city also filed for a provisional injunction to suspend the cancellation of the developer designation.
Unlike the first trial, the appellate court ruled that BJFEZ’s revocation of developer status must be suspended for 30 days from the date of the main judgment, allowing Changwon City to currently retain its developer status.
At the time, the appellate court stated, “It is appropriate to give Changwon City the opportunity to contest the legality of the revocation of its developer designation in the main lawsuit,” and “It is reasonable to view that BJFEZ’s action would cause Changwon City to suffer tangible and intangible damages that cannot be endured or are extremely difficult to endure with monetary compensation alone.”
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