1.The judgment of the first instance shall be modified as follows:

The plaintiff's claim against the defendants is dismissed in entirety.

2...

Basic Facts

The reasoning for this Court’s explanation is as stated in Paragraph 1 of Article 420 of the Civil Procedure Act, since the reasoning for the judgment of the court of first instance is the same as stated in Paragraph 1 of the same Article.

As to whether the fire of this case occurred due to the defect of the electric cable owned or managed by the Defendants, the gist of the Plaintiff’s assertion was that the fire of this case was caused by the defect of the electric cable, which was a structure near the closed cargo elevator.

Therefore, Defendant B, the owner of the above electric wire, or Defendant C, the possessor of the above electric wire, should be liable for damages incurred by the Plaintiff due to the defect in the installation and preservation of the structure.

Judgment

The defect of installation or preservation of a structure under Article 758(1) of the Civil Code refers to a state in which the structure itself lacks safety to be equipped in ordinary circumstances, and the burden of proof of the existence of the defect lies on the victim.

(see, e.g., Supreme Court Decision 82Meu348, Aug. 24, 1982). In addition, in civil litigation, the proof of facts is not a natural scientific proof that is not a suspicion of prosecution, but a high probability exists to acknowledge that there was a fact by comprehensively examining all evidence in light of the empirical rule, barring any special circumstance, and the determination requires to the extent that, if ordinary, it would not be doubtful.

(see, e.g., Supreme Court Decision 2008Da6755, Oct. 28, 2010). The fire of the Incheon Fire Agency is presumed to have been generated in the vicinity of the closed cargo elevator located on the first floor of the instant building. Among the generated factors, fire prevention, human factors, mechanical factors, gas leakage, and chemical factors can be excluded. However, the cargo elevator root, which is the predicted point, and the electrical wires of the said predicted point, can be identified, and the shuttle-off period is found in the vicinity.