Of the lower judgment’s damages for delay, 5% per annum from September 30, 2016 to December 22, 2017, as regards KRW 300,000,000.

The grounds of appeal are examined.

1. Article 3(2) of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Promotion, etc. of Legal Proceedings (hereinafter “Litigation Promotion Act”) provides that “Where it is deemed reasonable for an obligor to resist the existence or scope of the obligation, before a fact-finding judgment declaring that the obligor has the obligation to perform the obligation is rendered, paragraph (1) shall not apply to the reasonable scope.”

If the obligor's argument was accepted in the first instance trial by disputing the existence and scope of the obligation to perform, even if the argument was rejected in the appellate trial, it would be reasonable to have a reasonable ground.

Therefore, in such a case, the interest rate for delay damages under paragraph (1) of the same Article cannot be applied until the appellate judgment is rendered.

On May 8, 1998, the first instance court accepted the Defendant’s assertion and dismissed the Plaintiff’s claim in its entirety. The lower court followed the first instance court’s conclusion and accepted the Plaintiff’s claim in its entirety. As long as the Defendant’s assertion was accepted in the first instance court, it should be deemed that there exist reasonable grounds.

Therefore, even if the plaintiff's claim is fully accepted, the court below cannot apply the interest rate for delay damages under Article 3 (1) of the Civil Procedure Promotion Act until the date of the decision of the court below.

3. Nevertheless, the lower court applied the interest rate for delay damages as stipulated in Article 3(1) of the Litigation Promotion Act to the entire period from September 30, 2016 to the date of full payment, which the Plaintiff seeks, as a result of the delivery of the duplicate of the instant complaint.

The court below erred by misapprehending the legal principles on the scope of application under Article 3(1) and (2) of the Litigation Promotion Act.

4. Therefore, from September 30, 2016 to December 22, 2017, the judgment of the court below regarding KRW 300,000,000 among the damages for delay, 5% per annum as stipulated in the Civil Act from September 30, 2016 to the date of the judgment of the court below, and the next day.