A court has again sided with Meritz Financial Group (138040) Chairman Cho Jung-ho in a legal battle with Booyoung Group Chairman Lee Joong-keun over the Han River view from Lee's home.
The Seoul High Court's 37-3 civil division, presided over by senior judges Park Eun-young, Kim Jong-ki and Min Jung-seok, on the 20th dismissed Lee's appeal in an injunction case seeking to halt construction by Cho. The ruling rejected Lee's request to suspend work on Cho's new residence.
The dispute began when Cho started building a detached house near Lee's home in the Hannam-dong neighborhood of Seoul's Yongsan district. Lee's house sits directly behind the home Cho is building.
The Seoul Western District Court, which handled the injunction case at the first trial, rejected Lee's request on July 27 this year. The court noted that "the construction of Chairman Cho's house creates some restriction on the Han River view from Chairman Lee's house," but added that "because Chairman Cho's house sits diagonally from Chairman Lee's house, the view is not completely blocked."
The court also said that "the frame work on the new house has already been completed, so there is no practical benefit to halting construction."
In June this year, Lee also filed a suit against the head of the Yongsan district office with the Seoul Administrative Court seeking to nullify the building permit for Cho's house, along with a request to suspend its execution.
The Seoul Administrative Court granted Lee's request for a suspension of execution on the 12th, leaving the building permit Cho received from the Yongsan district office suspended until April 11 next year.