The appeal is dismissed.

The costs of appeal are assessed against the defendant.

The grounds of appeal are examined.

1. Article 10-3(1) of the former Commercial Building Lease Protection Act (amended by Act No. 15791, Oct. 16, 2018; hereinafter “former Commercial Building Lease Protection Act”) provides that “The premium means the price of money, etc. paid by a lessor or a lessee in addition to the deposit and rent, as consideration for transfer or use of tangible and intangible value of property, such as business facilities, fixtures, customers, credit, business know-how, and business interest arising from the location of a commercial building.”

Article 10-4 (1) main text of Article 10-4 (1) provides, “The lessor shall not interfere with receiving premiums from a person who wishes to become a new lessee arranged by the lessee according to the premium contract by doing any of the following acts from three months before the lease term expires until the termination of the lease.” Meanwhile, subparagraph 4 of Article 10-4 provides, “Other acts of refusing to conclude a lease contract with a person who is arranged by the lessee as a new lessee by the lessee without justifiable grounds.”

On the other hand, the proviso of Article 10 (1) provides that the lessor shall not be obliged to protect the opportunity to recover the premium in the event of a ground for refusal to renew the contract under each subparagraph of Article 10 (1) by stating that “However, this shall not apply to a ground falling under any of the subparagraphs of Article 10 (1).”

In light of the language, content, and legislative intent of Article 10-4 of the former Commercial Building Lease Act, in cases where a lessee is unable to exercise the right to request renewal of a contract for more than five years, including the initial term of lease pursuant to Article 10(2) of the former Commercial Building Lease Act, the lessor shall be subject to Article 10-4(1) of the same Act.