Fishermen who have acquired livelihood land as compensation for the loss of their fishing rights due to the development project of Ungdong 1 District in Jinhae, Changwon, have announced plans to take legal action against Changwon City and others.
The Jinhae-Uichang Extinct Fishermen’s Cooperative held a press conference at the Changwon City Hall Press Center on the 29th, stating, "We will file a fraud complaint against Jinhae Ocean Resort, the private operator of the Ungdong 1 District development project."
They claimed, "Jinhae Ocean Resort registered the golf course in 2017 on the condition of early completion and has since only operated the golf course, neglecting the remaining projects such as the hotel, aquarium, gateball court, other sports facilities, leisure and recreation theme park, and international school. It is clear that they are deceiving the administration into believing the entire project will be completed, while in reality, they lack both the ability and intention to proceed with the remaining projects and are only profiting from it."
The Jinhae and Uichang Small-Scale Fishery Cooperatives of Changwon City, Gyeongnam, are holding a press conference at the Changwon City Hall Press Center. Photo by Lee Seryung
They also announced plans to file a complaint against Changwon City, which is currently engaged in a lawsuit protesting the revocation of its status as a joint project operator by the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone Authority, citing responsibility for the prolonged delay of the project.
They said, "Changwon City is hindering the normalization of the project by protecting and cooperating with Jinhae Ocean Resort, which should have its project agreement terminated and be held accountable, and by allowing it to participate as an auxiliary litigant in the lawsuit against the Free Economic Zone Authority. We will file a complaint against the mayor of Changwon for obstruction of business."
The cooperative stated, "During the recent audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection, it was pointed out that the livelihood land for extinct fishermen should be excluded from the Ungdong 1 District project area as of 2014 to serve as a practical livelihood measure for the extinct fishermen, but this has still not been implemented."
They emphasized, "As a result, more than 1,500 extinct fishermen who own 68,000 pyeong of livelihood land within the project area have neither the right to implement the project nor the right to use or profit from the land, and are only paying hundreds of millions of won in taxes, causing their damages to increase endlessly."
In response, Changwon City released a statement, saying, "The Board of Audit and Inspection only pointed out that the business agreement should be amended to clarify the scope of the private operator Jinhae Ocean Resort’s project, such as by excluding the livelihood land from its project scope. There was no mention anywhere that the livelihood land should be excluded from the project area itself."
They added, "Jinhae Ocean Resort, as a private operator, applied to participate in the lawsuit because it was determined to have an interest in the outcome, and the Busan District Court decided to allow its participation. Changwon City was not involved at all."
The city said, "As a distributor, the Extinct Fishermen’s Cooperative can directly develop upper-level facilities, and in accordance with the recommendations of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, we will actively cooperate in changing the land use plan within the development plan so that it can be used as a practical livelihood measure."
They added, "We will continue to consult with administrative agencies to normalize the Ungdong District development project as soon as possible, secure the status of project operator, and actively work to resolve the complaints of the Extinct Fishermen’s Cooperative."
The Jinhae Ungdong 1 District development project aims to build accommodation, leisure, and recreation facilities on a 2.25 million square meter site in Sudo-dong, Jinhae-gu, Changwon. Construction began in November 2013, but only the golf course was completed in December 2017, and the project has since stalled.
Previously, the Free Economic Zone Authority determined that Changwon City and Gyeongnam Development Corporation, as joint project operators, were responsible for the prolonged delay and, on March 30 last year, revoked their designation as project operators and canceled the land use permits 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, claiming the authority’s action was unjust, and in July filed for a provisional injunction to suspend the cancellation of the project operator designation.
Unlike the first trial, the appellate court ruled that the effect of the Free Economic Zone Authority’s revocation of Changwon City’s project operator status should be suspended for 30 days from the date of the main verdict. As a result, Changwon City is currently maintaining its project operator status while the lawsuit continues.
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