A pedestrian walks with an umbrella along Gyeongui Line Forest Park in Mapo-gu, Seoul, last month. [Yonhap]
A pedestrian walks with an umbrella along Gyeongui Line Forest Park in Mapo-gu, Seoul, last month. [Yonhap]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday it would "humbly accept" the Supreme Court's ruling in a lawsuit over compensation fees imposed by Korea National Railway for use of land along the Gyeongui Line Forest Park. The city said it plans to carry out the necessary administrative procedures, including payment of the fees.

The city said it respects the court's judgment and will follow through on subsequent steps required by the ruling, including the compensation payment.

The Gyeongui Line Forest Park was created under a 2010 agreement between the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Korea National Railway. The agreement involved burying an approximately 6.3-kilometer stretch of the Gyeongui Line railway underground between Hyochang Park station and Gajeong station and converting the surface into a park. The section running through Yeonnam-dong in Mapo-gu is popularly nicknamed "Yeontral Park," a portmanteau evoking New York City's Central Park.

Kim Yeong-hwan, director of Seoul's Garden City Bureau, said the city accepts the outcome but expressed regret. "While we humbly accept the result of the litigation, I feel a sense of disappointment that the public value of the Gyeongui Line Forest Park — which has become part of citizens' daily lives as a pleasant green space in the heart of the city — has been somewhat diminished," Kim said. "We will accept the Supreme Court's ruling and carry out the relevant procedures."

The city said that regardless of the litigation outcome, the public value of the Gyeongui Line Forest Park and its importance as a rest space for citizens remain unchanged.

Seoul said it plans to consult with Korea National Railway on measures for the future operation and management of the park, which currently serves as a vital ecological corridor and recreational space within the city.

In addition, the city said it will continue to urge the central government to ease restrictions on the free use of state-owned land — including revising related laws and regulations — so that local governments are not saddled with excessive fiscal burdens when pursuing high public-interest projects such as parks on national land.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court's Second Division, presided over by Justice Eom Sang-pil, on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling against Seoul in the city's lawsuit seeking to cancel the compensation fee imposed by Korea National Railway. The court dismissed Seoul's final appeal, ruling that the city could not be considered to have the right to occupy or use the land free of charge based on the agreement, nor to hold a legal status justifying such use. The original agreement stipulated that Korea National Railway would cooperate with Seoul's development of park facilities on the above-ground railway site, while Seoul would cooperate with the railway body on permits and approvals related to transit-oriented development.

Korea National Railway had authorized Seoul to use the above-ground site free of charge for five years from July 2011 to July 2016, then renewed the free-use permit for one additional year. In May 2017, the railway body notified Seoul that it intended to convert the arrangement to a paid-use permit after that period expired. Seoul requested a further free-use renewal, but Korea National Railway declined.

A revised enforcement decree of the State Property Act, amended in April 2011, also formed part of the legal basis for the ruling. Under the revised decree, free lending of state-owned land for one year or more was no longer permitted.

Korea National Railway ultimately determined that Seoul had illegally occupied the above-ground site from July 2017 through December 2022, and imposed compensation fees totaling about 42.1 billion won ($29.8 million) in four separate assessments between November 2020 and May 2023.

Seoul pushed back and filed a lawsuit in February 2021 to cancel the fees. After three years of proceedings, a first-instance court ruled in January 2024 that the Gyeongui Line Forest Park was not subject to compensation fees. An appeals court reversed that decision in February last year, ruling in favor of Korea National Railway. Seoul appealed again, but the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion Wednesday, finding that the fee imposition did not violate the principles of protection of trust or proportionality. Seoul had also argued that the enforcement decree provision barring free lending of state-owned land for more than one year exceeded the scope of its parent statute, but the court rejected that argument as well.


cook@heraldcorp.com