Background
A local government had used a parcel of State land in central Seoul as a road and otherwise without going through any formal acquisition procedure. When the State property management authority imposed occupancy charges, the local government disputed the imposition as improper and sued for the return of the occupancy charges and use fees it had already paid. Changchun represented the State (the Republic of Korea).
What Was at Stake
The key questions were whether the local government had lawfully acquired the land, and whether it was obliged to pay occupancy charges and use fees for having used it without formal procedure.
How Changchun Helped
Changchun (attorney Woojin Kim) proved that the local government could not be regarded as having acquired rights of use and profit, pointing out that the land was not in fact used as a road but for a purpose the local government had designated at will, and that the local government had never lawfully acquired the land.
Following the earlier suit to revoke the occupancy charge imposition, the court in this unjust enrichment claim likewise dismissed the local government's claims in full, giving the State a complete victory. The case shows that the principle of "lawful acquisition procedure" decides the outcome even in disputes between public bodies. (Outcomes depend on the facts of each case and may differ.)