In exceptional cases where it cannot be deemed that property acquired in the form of gratuitous acquisition by a public interest corporation falls under “property donated or acquired without compensation” under Article 16(1)2 of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Establishment and Operation of Public Interest Corporations, even if it is acquired in the form of free acquisition.

Even if an act of acquiring property of a public-service corporation takes the form of free acquisition in the external form, if special circumstances are acknowledged such that the actual purpose of the act of acquiring property is irrelevant to the purpose of the establishment of the public-service corporation, and was for the benefit of the donor almost entirely, or that the conditions or burdens are attached to the act of donation and the contents of such conditions are excessively excessive burden on the public-service corporation in light of the type, value, etc. of the donated property, it is reasonable to deem that the property acquired through such act does not constitute “donation or other property acquired without compensation” under Article 16(1)2 of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Establishment and Operation of Public-Service Corporations

Article 11(1) of the Act on the Establishment and Operation of Public Interest Corporations, and Article 16(1)2 of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Establishment and Operation of Public Interest Corporations

Plaintiff

Defendant (Attorney Kim Jong-young, Counsel for the defendant-appellant)

Seoul Central District Court Decision 2008Na18665 Decided December 19, 2008

The judgment of the court below is reversed and the case is remanded to the Seoul Central District Court Panel Division.

We examine the grounds of appeal.

Article 16(1)2 of the Enforcement Decree of the Public Interest Corporation Act (hereinafter “Enforcement Decree of this case”) which was enacted upon delegation of Article 11(1) of the Public Interest Corporation Act provides that “property donated or acquired without compensation shall be excluded from property deemed basic property of public interest corporations: Provided, That this shall not apply where approval from the competent authority is obtained because it is difficult to become an endowment in the light of the purpose of donation.”

In light of the legislative purpose of the Public Interest Corporation Act, which aims to enable a public interest corporation to maintain its public interest and engage in sound activities, and the purpose of the Enforcement Decree of this case, even if property is donated or acquired free of charge under the provisions of the Enforcement Decree of this case, and it is difficult for the public interest corporation to use it as basic property in light of the purpose of donation, and thus obtaining the approval of the competent authority is not deemed fundamental property. In light of the purport of the above, even if the act of acquiring property of the public interest corporation takes the form of free acquisition without compensation in external form, the actual purpose of the act of acquiring property is irrelevant to the purpose of the establishment of the public interest corporation, and it is almost for the benefit of the donor, or it is almost excessive burden on the public interest corporation in light of the type and value of the donated property, if there are special circumstances such as that the actual purpose of the act of acquiring property is not related to the purpose of the establishment of the public interest corporation.

According to the statement No. 2-1 and No. 2 of the evidence No. 2, the newly established school foundation will accept all rights of the ○ University. The non-party (the plaintiff's birth) as the principal and director of the ○ University shall operate the ○ University and shall appoint the plaintiff as a standing director, compensate the plaintiff for the equivalent value at the time of transferring the foundation and the school to a third party, and return the real estate of this case without fulfilling these conditions, the contract of this case becomes null and void from the beginning, and the Foundation of this case shall restore the real estate of this case to its original state without bearing all expenses. Accordingly, the contract of this case is primarily derived from the purpose of acquiring the ○ University of Plaintiff's ○ University without relation to the purpose of the establishment of the Foundation, and the conditions attached thereto shall be deemed to impose excessive burden on the Foundation of this case.

Nevertheless, the court below held that the real estate of this case was a fundamental property of the Foundation, as a matter of course, after being donated or acquired without compensation. The court below erred by failing to exhaust all necessary deliberations or by misapprehending the legal principles on the acquisition of basic property under the Public Interest Corporation Act, which affected the conclusion of the judgment. The ground of appeal pointing

Therefore, without examining the remaining grounds of appeal, the judgment of the court below is reversed, and the case is remanded to the court below for a new trial and determination. It is so decided as per Disposition by the assent of all participating Justices.

Justices Shin Young-chul (Presiding Justice)