1. The plaintiff's appeal is dismissed.

2. The costs of appeal shall be borne by the Plaintiff.

Purport of claim and appeal

1...

1. The gist of the Plaintiff’s assertion is that the Defendant actively demanded the application for electricity business permission prior to the payment of down payment while granting the trust that the contract for the installation and supply of solar power generation facilities will be concluded at the negotiation stage, and the Defendant’s refusal to conclude the contract constitutes a tort that unfairly destroys contractual negotiations, and thus, the Defendant shall compensate for KRW 167 million, the net profit that the Plaintiff would have obtained upon completion of the said construction as the contractor, as the contractor, for its performance interest.

(2) In a case where one party grants a legitimate expectation or trust that the contract will be concluded at the negotiation stage and causes damages to the other party by refusing the conclusion of the contract without a reasonable reason even though the other party acted in accordance with his/her trust, it constitutes an illegal act exceeding the limit of the freedom of contract in light of the principle of good faith.

In a case where an unfair reversal of contract negotiation constitutes a tort, it is reasonable to compensate the other party for damages in proximate causal relation to the other party who trusted the conclusion of the contract. On the other hand, since the contract is not yet established at the stage of contract negotiation, one of the parties is preparing for or commencing the performance of the contract. Therefore, even if the party commenced the performance, it may be deemed to be based on his own risk judgment and liability, but there are special circumstances, such as the commencement of the performance is in line with the other party's active demand, and the contract negotiation was already underway regarding the payment of expenses incurred in the performance.