— "Had We Known About the Column, We Would Not Have Signed": Judgment Ordering Refund of the Full KRW 600 Million Purchase Price
From a Herald Business report dated November 9, 2018.
[Herald Business = reporter Kyung-soo Jung] A judgment has held that failing to disclose in advance the presence of a column capable of constraining the space when selling a retail unit is a ground for terminating the contract.
The First Civil Division of the Jeonju Bench of the Gwangju High Court (presiding judge Sung-min Nam) announced on the 9th that it had found for the plaintiff on appeal in an action for return of the down payment and other relief brought by Kim, the purchaser of a retail unit, against a regional housing association. If the judgment becomes final the housing association must refund to Kim the entire KRW 624 million in purchase price already received, the court having found that the association deceived Kim by failing to disclose the column properly.
Attorney Geonho Park of Law Firm Changchun, who acted in the case, observed: "Housing associations and sales agents will henceforth have to disclose clearly the presence and location of major structural features inside retail units, such as columns and ventilation shafts."