Aekyung "Unfair Additional Contribution Calculation for Humidifier Disinfectant Damage"… Wins First Trial

Ministry of Environment Imposes Additional Contribution of 10.7 Billion KRW Last Year
Court Rules "Calculation of Contribution Ratio Between Aekyung and SK Chemicals Illegal"

Aekyung Industrial won a lawsuit challenging the government's additional contribution assessment for humidifier disinfectant damage relief, resulting in the cancellation of approximately 10.7 billion KRW in contributions.

The Seoul Administrative Court, Administrative Division 3 (Chief Judge Choi Su-jin) ruled on the 29th in favor of Aekyung in the lawsuit filed against the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute's director, seeking cancellation of the additional contribution imposition for humidifier disinfectant damage relief.

The court stated, "The imposition of an additional contribution of approximately 10.74 billion KRW for humidifier disinfectant damage relief is canceled."

The court judged that the government's calculation of the additional contribution ratio between Aekyung Industrial and SK Chemicals as 2 to 1, based on the "joint payment of contributions" clause in the enforcement decree of the Humidifier Disinfectant Damage Relief Act, exceeded the government's discretionary authority and was unjust.

The enforcement decree stipulates, "When multiple businesses jointly pay contributions, they shall pay according to the ratio of sales prices; if the sales price ratio is unknown, the ratio between the business receiving the humidifier disinfectant and the business supplying the humidifier disinfectant shall be calculated as 2 to 1."

The court pointed out, "There is no evidence to confirm that the government conducted a procedure to investigate sales prices during the additional contribution calculation process or that, despite this, it could not determine the sales prices of Aekyung Industrial, the recipient of the humidifier disinfectant, and SK Chemicals, the supplier, and therefore calculated the ratio as 2 to 1."

It added, "It cannot be considered that the contribution ratio between Aekyung Industrial and SK Chemicals was lawfully calculated," and ruled that "this violates the principles of equality and proportionality, exceeding the limits of discretionary authority."

The court dismissed Aekyung Industrial's request for a constitutional review of the legal provisions authorizing the imposition and collection of additional contributions, stating that there was no unconstitutionality.

Previously, following the enactment of the Humidifier Disinfectant Damage Relief Act in 2017, the Ministry of Environment imposed contributions totaling 125 billion KRW on 18 businesses including Oxy, Aekyung Industrial, and SK Chemicals.

After the collected contributions were exhausted, the government re-imposed the same amount on 23 businesses in February last year. The amount imposed on Aekyung Industrial was approximately 10.74 billion KRW.

Aekyung Industrial filed a lawsuit in May last year, arguing that the special law did not specify the total amount or the number of contribution installments, which was unjust, and challenged the imposition.