법원 “태안 기름유출 피해주민단체들, 복구기금 2800억원 반환해야”

A recent court ruling in South Korea has mandated that the Trust Fund for Recovery and Reconstruction in the 2007 Taean Oil Spill return approximately 2.8 trillion won to several affected residents' organizations. These organizations had utilized the funds for various purposes other than their intended public works, such as employees' salaries and operational expenses.

The Seoul Central District Court's 31st Civil Summons Case 31 Division ruled in favor of Love's Plum Welfare Joint Fund, a trust fund, and the Haiwei Social Cooperative, a cooperative, in a recent settlement suit against the Social Welfare Joint Fund Love's Plum and the Haiwei Social Cooperative. The court ordered the trust fund and cooperative to return specific portions of the fund to the affected organizations.

On December 7, 2007, a Samsung heavy industry ship collided with a Chinese-flagged cargo ship off the coast of South Korea, resulting in the spill of approximately 1,025,470 liters of oil. In 2016, Samsung Heavy Industries agreed to transfer a fund of 2.9 trillion won to the Love's Plum Welfare Joint Fund to support various public works projects in the region. The affected residents' organizations subsequently established the cooperative and trust fund to distribute the funds among the regions.

However, in 2021, it was revealed that the cooperative and trust fund were not effectively managing the distribution of funds. This led to a series of complaints from the local community regarding issues such as improper management of staff travel expenses, unnecessary appropriations, and delays in the nomination of board members.

In response, Love's Plum Welfare Joint Fund informed the remaining beneficiaries in August 2023 about the remaining distribution of funds, but the two organizations refused to accept the arrangement and filed a civil lawsuit.

The court largely agreed with Love's Plum Welfare Joint Fund's claims. According to the court, the cooperative had only executed 4.4% of the total distribution amount as of the end of 2021, with 30 billion won of that amount allocated to employee salaries and organizational expenses. Similarly, the trust fund had only executed 7.8% of the total distribution, with 94 billion won of that amount going towards organizational expenses. The court concluded that the distribution scheme of Love's Plum Welfare Joint Fund was legal.