Seoul Metropolitan Government files appeal after losing two rounds in court

City says rezoning of Namsan site was within its authority as local government

11 billion won already spent; funds would be lost if Supreme Court rules against city

Regulatory amendment also being pursued as parallel path to revive project

A rendering of the planned gondola cabin for the Namsan gondola project. [Seoul Metropolitan Government]
A rendering of the planned gondola cabin for the Namsan gondola project. [Seoul Metropolitan Government]

Seoul's Namsan gondola project — stalled by court rulings despite 11 billion won ($8.22 million) already spent — will now go before the Supreme Court, with the city vowing to fight on. If it loses there too, the entire sum will be written off. In parallel, the Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to pursue a regulatory amendment as an alternative path to reviving the project.

Seoul's legal affairs office filed an appeal with the Supreme Court on Monday in the lawsuit seeking to overturn the city's urban management plan decision for the Namsan gondola. The city argues that rezoning its own land falls within the inherent authority of a local government, and that there is room to contest the legal interpretation at the Supreme Court level.

On Sept. 17, the Seoul High Court's Administrative Division 7 upheld a lower court ruling in favor of Hankook Sakdo Gongup, the operator of the existing Namsan cable car, which had sued the city to nullify the urban management plan decision. The appeals court, like the trial court before it, found that the city's rezoning of Namsan land to erect gondola support pillars was unlawful.

Hankook Sakdo Gongup has held a monopoly on the Namsan cable car since 1962 — more than six decades. The central legal question is whether the city lawfully converted part of an urban natural park zone into a designated park facility to accommodate the gondola installation. The city announced the gondola plan in June 2023, envisioning 25 ten-passenger cabins capable of transporting more than 2,000 people per hour between Namsan Yejang Park and the summit.

In August 2024, the city rezoned part of the Namsan site from an urban natural park zone to a designated park facility in order to install gondola pillars exceeding 30 meters in height — a change made necessary because structures in urban natural park zones are capped at 12 meters.

Hankook Sakdo Gongup challenged the rezoning, arguing it did not meet the conditions for lifting urban natural park zone status under the enforcement decree of the Act on Urban Parks and Green Areas. The trial court agreed last December, finding the city had not satisfied the statutory requirements. Under the decree, such a zone may be lifted only when its function of preserving the natural environment has significantly diminished or it has lost its role as a public rest space — conditions the court found did not apply to the Namsan site.

Construction on the gondola has been suspended for roughly two years, since a court granted an injunction in October 2024. The 11 billion won already committed would be entirely lost if the Supreme Court also rules against the city.

"The city decided to appeal to the Supreme Court based on its judgment that the conversion to a designated park facility was legally sound," a Seoul Metropolitan Government official said. "We will do our utmost to have the city's position accepted."

Separately from the Supreme Court appeal, the city is also pursuing a revision to the enforcement decree of the Act on Urban Parks and Green Areas as an alternative route. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport pre-announced a draft amendment last June that would ease height restrictions for gondola facilities meeting certain criteria within urban natural park zones. However, follow-up procedures are still ongoing.

"If the decree is amended, we can proceed with the gondola project without rezoning the existing site," the city said, adding that it continues to work on persuading the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.


ikson@heraldcorp.com