The resumption of Seoul's Namsan gondola project has been thrown into doubt after a court again ruled that the city's revision of its urban management plan was unlawful and upheld an order canceling it.
The Seoul High Court's Administrative Division 7, presided over by Chief Judge Kwon Soon-hyung, said on Sept. 17 that it "dismisses all of the defendant's appeals against the plaintiffs" in a suit brought by Korea Cable Car Industry and others against the Seoul Metropolitan Government seeking cancellation of the urban management plan decision. The lower court had earlier ruled against the city.
To install a gondola in the Namsan area, the city in February 2024 announced an urban planning facility decision covering the construction of a cable track. Under the plan, five towers were to be built to support the gondola. Two of them, standing 45 to 50 meters tall, were to be installed on land within the Namsan urban nature park zone.
In urban nature park zones, buildings or structures taller than 12 meters are in principle restricted. The city therefore announced in August 2024 a revision to its urban management plan that removed the site where the gondola towers were to stand from the urban nature park zone and incorporated it into Namsan No. 1 Neighborhood Park. Korea Cable Car Industry then filed suit, arguing the revision was unlawful.
The first-trial court ruled last year that the city's decision was unlawful, finding that it failed to meet the requirements of Article 25, Paragraph 1, Item 3 of the enforcement decree of the Act on Urban Parks and Green Areas. That provision sets out the criteria for altering or lifting an urban nature park zone designation, including land where green space has been damaged and its function of conserving the natural environment has markedly declined.
The court said that "as long as the urban parks and green areas legislation does not list a 'park' among the facilities permitted in an urban nature park zone, changing the zone into a neighborhood park amounts to an alteration or a lifting of the designation."
It added that "the legislation already permits facilities that minimize damage to nature, such as recreational forests, forest bathing sites and sports facilities, even within urban nature park zones," and explained that "it is not unreasonable for the provision at issue to limit alteration or lifting of urban nature park zone designations to areas where green space has already been damaged."
The court also rejected the city's argument that Korea Cable Car Industry lacked standing because it holds a monopoly on the cable car business. The Namsan cable car has been operated exclusively by a single company for decades because the government set no expiration date when it granted the business license in 1961.
The court held that "even if circumstances such as the enormous revenue earned through monopoly operation may be taken into account in determining whether the defendant exceeded or abused its discretion, they cannot in themselves negate the plaintiff's standing."
