Development charge of about KRW 78.5 million fully cancelled

Background

Our client began a site development project, which was halted when the permit was revoked, and later completed a second project for a factory site on largely the same land. The city imposed a development charge of about KRW 78.5 million on the second project.

Our approach

We argued that roughly KRW 1.6 billion spent on the first project improved the same land and therefore had to be counted as a development cost of the second project.

Issues and ruling

The court held that the earlier construction costs were not reflected in the land value at the start of the second project and were land improvement costs incurred within three years before the permit. As the law does not prohibit counting such costs again, the charge calculated without them was unlawful.

Outcome

The entire development charge of about KRW 78.5 million was cancelled, and the city was ordered to bear the litigation costs.

This is the outcome of an individual case and does not guarantee the same result in similar matters. Some facts have been generalized to protect the parties involved.