Sewoon District 4 residents file damages lawsuit worth $12.5M against government

Residents of Sewoon District 4 in central Seoul, which has been at the center of controversy over claims it mars the Jongmyo Shrine landscape, have filed a damages lawsuit worth 16 billion won ($12.5 million) against the government.

Jongmyo Shrine and the nearby Sewoon District 4 redevelopment site are seen in Seoul on Dec. 12. [YONHAP]

Residents of Sewoon District 4 in central Seoul, which has been at the center of controversy over claims it mars the Jongmyo Shrine landscape, have filed a damages lawsuit worth 16 billion won ($12.5 million) against the government, arguing that development restrictions imposed due to its “encroachment on Jongmyo’s scenery” have caused massive financial losses for them.

The Sewoon District 4 residents' committee said on Monday that it submitted the lawsuit to the Seoul Central District Court on Friday against the state and officials of the Korea Heritage Service (KHS). The committee is seeking 16 billion won in total: 2 billion won each from the state, KHS Administrator Huh Min, the former and incumbent heads of the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center and the current director general of the KHS's Heritage Policy Bureau, and 1 billion won each from six other KHS officials.

The residents' committee said the lawsuit was filed because the KHS repeatedly demanded that Seoul and Jongno District obtain separate reviews from the service regarding the district's relationship to the shrine, despite there being no legal requirement to do so, causing serious delays to the Sewoon District 4 redevelopment project and inflicting heavy financial losses on residents.

Sewoon District 4 is about 600 meters (1,970 feet) from the main hall of Jongmyo Shrine, according to the committee. It is also roughly 170 meters away from the officially designated cultural heritage protection zone — measured from the shrine’s outer wall — placing it outside the 100-meter buffer zone.

“The project site is clearly outside both the cultural heritage protection zone and the buffer zone,” the committee said.

According to the committee, the KHS revised a notice issued in January 2017, deleting provisions requiring separate agency reviews for areas within what is called the “Sewoon Redevelopment Promotion Zone” in Korean. In February 2023, the agency also officially informed residents that those reviews were not mandatory.

Members of the Sewoon District 4 residents’ committee hold a press conference at Dasiseun Square in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Nov. 11. [NEWS1]

The committee said the KHS later reversed its position. As a result, Seoul and Jongno District spent years undergoing additional review procedures.

Because construction has yet to begin, the redevelopment project's cumulative debt has reached 725 billion won, the committee said, with monthly financial costs exceeding 2 billion won.

The residents called on the government and the KHS to “immediately stop further actions that interfere with the project” so construction at Sewoon District 4 can begin.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY HAN EUN-HWA [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]