Private Citizen sues A-G, Chief Justice over legal vacation; seeks Supreme Court declaration of unconstitutionality

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court affirmed a lower court's decision compelling the Seoul city government to remit usage fees to the national railway authority for the maintenance of a public park constructed above a railroad. The ruling emerged from a lawsuit initiated by the Seoul city government to annul a 42.1 billion won ($29.8 million) usage fee levied by the Korea National Railway, a public body under the transport ministry, for the utilization of the Gyeongui Line Forest Park site.

The court emphasized the impracticality of acknowledging the Seoul city government's entitlement to occupy or exploit the park site without charge or the existence of a legal basis to justify such occupancy or use. The Gyeongui Line Forest Park, spanning 6.3 kilometers in the western Mapo district, was developed between 2008 and 2016 atop erstwhile above-ground railroad tracks following the relocation of segments of the Gyeongui Line underground.

Its popularity earned it the nickname "Yeontral Park." In 2010, the Seoul city government and the Korea National Railway entered an agreement regarding the former's free use of the state-owned land.