Victory in the Supreme Court Following Wins in the First and Second Trials
Goyang Special City in Gyeonggi Province announced on December 12 that it had achieved a final victory in the Supreme Court in the administrative lawsuit filed by the Shincheonji religious group, which had contested the city's ex officio cancellation of a change-of-use permit for its Pung-dong religious facility.
The Supreme Court recently dismissed, without further review, the appeal filed by Shincheonji against the mayor of Goyang in the 'lawsuit to cancel the disposition of revocation of the change-of-use permit.' With this decision, Goyang City has now won in the first, second, and Supreme Court rulings, thereby confirming both the legitimacy and public necessity of the ex officio cancellation.
The building in question had applied for a change of use to a religious facility in 2018, but the application was rejected during the architectural review due to parking and safety concerns. However, in June 2023, it was confirmed that a change-of-use application was submitted under an individual's name, rather than that of the Shincheonji religious group, in order to deceive the administrative authorities. The application targeted only a portion of the building's second floor, thereby circumventing the architectural review and obtaining approval.
Once these facts became known in the local community, residents strongly protested and continued to file complaints, expressing concerns about threats to safety and the educational environment. Taking into full account the residents' opinions and the public interest of the local community, and to address administrative distrust caused by illegal procedures and deceptive applications, Goyang City proactively decided on ex officio cancellation in January 2024.
Subsequently, Shincheonji claimed that it had been subjected to unfair discrimination on the grounds of being a specific religion and filed a lawsuit, but as with the previous two trials, the Supreme Court also found Goyang City's actions to be lawful and did not accept the appeal.
Meanwhile, Goyang Special City has used the issues revealed in this and other complex and sensitive architectural complaint cases as an opportunity to identify and lead improvements in the structural limitations of the national architectural administration system (Seumter).
To address the problem of important information-such as previous review records, reasons for rejection, and collective complaints-being lost when staff are reassigned, the city continuously proposed improvements to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Real Estate Board. As a result, in July of this year, the Seumter system was revamped, allowing local governments nationwide to instantly access special records related to building sites.
This is regarded as a significant achievement in proactive administration, as it strengthens the continuity and reliability of architectural administration and improves the quality of public service experienced by citizens by preventing the recurrence of identical complaints.
Lee Donghwan, Mayor of Goyang, stated, "This Supreme Court ruling is highly significant, as it resolves community conflict and residents' concerns, and the judiciary has ultimately confirmed that the city's decision to protect public safety and quality of life was justified."
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