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6% per annum from January 14, 2016 to January 12, 2017, with respect to delay damages of KRW 18,520,00 in the lower judgment.
Reasons
1. The judgment on the grounds of appeal is a small case as provided in Article 2(1) of the Trial of Small Claims Act and Article 1-2 of the Rules on Trial of Small Claims, and the content asserted by the defendant as the grounds of appeal does not fall under any of the subparagraphs of Article 3 of the Trial of Small Claims Act.
2. Article 3(2) of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Promotion, etc. of Ex officio Proceedings on Compensation for Delay Damages (hereinafter “Special Cases Act”) provides that “Where it is deemed reasonable for an obligor to dispute over the existence of an obligation or the scope of such obligation before a fact-finding court declares that the obligor has an obligation to perform the obligation to perform the obligation, paragraph (1) shall not apply to the reasonable extent.” However, if the obligor contests the existence and scope of the obligation to perform the obligation and accepted the assertion in the first instance trial, it shall be deemed that there is a reasonable ground for rejection of the assertion
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.
(See Supreme Court Decision 97Da50725 delivered on May 8, 1998, etc.). In this case, the first instance court accepted the Defendant’s assertion and dismissed the Plaintiff’s claim in its entirety. The lower court followed the conclusion of the first instance court 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 Act on Special Cases to the date of the decision of the court below.
Nevertheless, the lower court applied the interest rate for delay damages under Article 3(1) of the Act on Special Cases concerning the whole period from the day after the duplicate of the complaint of this case to the day of complete payment.
The judgment of the court below is within the scope of Article 3 (1) and (2) of the Act on Special Cases.