Hapcheon County in South Gyeongsang Province said Wednesday it had won a 20.5 billion won reimbursement lawsuit filed by the builder of a hotel project at the Hapcheon Film Theme Park, a development that had collapsed following large-scale embezzlement by the head of its project developer.
According to the county, the 4th Civil Division of the Seongnam Branch of the Suwon District Court dismissed all of the builder's claims in a ruling the previous day, holding that Hapcheon County has no obligation to pay reimbursement to the builder. The ruling confirmed that the county bears no additional legal payment obligation stemming from the project's collapse.
The project originally called for investing 59 billion won in private capital to build a 200-room hotel. However, it was fully halted in April 2023 when the developer's head, identified as A, embezzled 25 billion won in real estate project financing (PF) loans and disappeared.
The lender (agent financial institution) that had provided the project funds subsequently filed a loan repayment lawsuit in November 2023 against the developer, joint guarantors, the builder, and Hapcheon County. In July 2025, the Seoul Central District Court recognized the builder's liability for the entire loan principal of 28.9 billion won and Hapcheon County's liability for damages up to a limit of 20 billion won.
Following negotiations, Hapcheon County, the builder, and the lender each paid the lender out of the total loan principal and interest of 32.6 billion won, with the county paying 12.1 billion won and the builder paying 20.5 billion won. However, the builder argued that Hapcheon County should ultimately bear the 20.5 billion won it had paid, and filed a separate reimbursement lawsuit last November. The court did not accept the claim.
"I believe this ruling is the result of the court's comprehensive assessment of the relevant facts and legal issues," Hapcheon County Mayor Kim Yun-cheol said. "We will continue to run the county administration with a responsible attitude so that residents' precious tax money is not wasted."
