All appeals are dismissed.

The costs of appeal are assessed against the defendant (defendant).

The grounds of appeal are examined.

1. As to the ground of appeal No. 1, the Plaintiffs asserted that there exists a ground for retrial as stipulated in Article 451(1)8 of the Civil Procedure Act in the instant judgment subject to a retrial, since the conviction against the deceased AH, AK, W, and S (hereinafter “the network AH, etc.”) became the basis for the instant judgment subject to a retrial (Seoul High Court 68Da23), and that there was a ground for retrial as stipulated in Article 451(1)8.

The lower court determined that the instant lawsuit was lawful within the period prescribed in Article 456(1) of the Civil Procedure Act, unless there was no evidence that the Plaintiffs had known the result of criminal review on the deceased AH, etc. before 30 days prior to the filing date of the instant lawsuit.

The judgment below

Examining the reasoning in light of the record, the lower court did not err by exceeding the bounds of the principle of free evaluation of evidence against logical and empirical rules.

2. As to the second ground of appeal, in cases where there is a serious defect in which the validity of the final judgment cannot be recognized, a retrial was prepared to realize specific justice by exceptionally eliminating legal stability in accordance with the final and conclusive judgment and correcting the defect.

(see, e.g., Supreme Court Decision 91Da45691, Jul. 24, 1992). Article 451(1)8 of the Civil Procedure Act provides that “When a civil or criminal judgment, or any other judgment or administrative disposition, which forms the basis of a judgment, has been changed by a different judgment or administrative disposition,” the grounds for retrial.

This refers to a case in which a judgment or administrative disposition on the basis of a judgment has been finally and retroactively changed by another subsequent judgment or administrative disposition.

(see, e.g., Supreme Court Decision 87Meu2088, Dec. 8, 1987). Here, the term “based on a judgment” means a case where a judgment has a legally binding force or is subject to a judgment.