Booyoung’s Lee Joong-keun: “View rights infringed” vs. Meritz’s Cho Jung-ho: “Property rights” ... Meritz wins again in second round of chaebol families’ “Han River view battle”

[Financial News] Booyoung Group Chairman Lee Joong-keun’s request for an injunction to halt construction, filed on the grounds that his “right to a view of the Han River” would be infringed by construction of a new home by his neighbor, Meritz Financial Group Chairman Cho Jung-ho, was rejected on appeal as well.
According to legal circles on the 20th, a three-judge panel of the Seoul High Court’s Civil Division 37-3 (High Court Judges Park Eun-young, Kim Jong-ki and Min Jeong-seok) dismissed Lee’s appeal that day in the appeal proceedings over his request for an injunction to halt construction, which he had filed against Cho.
The case, which drew public attention as a “Han River view dispute” between two chaebol chairmen, was sparked when Cho began building a detached house with two basement levels and two above-ground floors opposite Lee’s home in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Lee’s side claimed that the new house infringed on the Han River view and violated the Building Act by, among other things, circumventing restrictions on the number of floors and building height, and filed for an injunction to halt construction in May.
In July, however, the Seoul Western District Court, which heard the case at first instance, dismissed Lee’s request. It found that while the new house could partly restrict the Han River view from Lee’s home, its diagonal position meant it would not block the view completely. The court also said that views can change as the surrounding conditions change, and that Cho’s property rights should therefore be protected. It further cited the fact that the structural work had already been completed, leaving no practical benefit in halting construction. Lee’s side filed an immediate appeal, but the second-instance panel reached the same conclusion as the first-instance court.
Separately from the defeat in the injunction case, the effect of the building permit for Cho’s home is currently suspended. This is because, on the 12th, the Seoul Administrative Court granted a request to stay execution in connection with Lee’s side filing a lawsuit against the head of Yongsan District Office in June seeking confirmation that the building permit was invalid, along with an application for a stay of execution.
As a result of the decision, the effect of the building permit issued to Cho by Yongsan District Office has been suspended temporarily until April 11 next year. The trial on the merits, which will determine whether the permit was lawful, is scheduled to begin on the 27th of next month.


[email protected] Park Ji-hyun Reporter