A former military officer filed a civil lawsuit against the government for delayed interest on unpaid wages at the Seoul Central District Court but lost the case. However, the Supreme Court ruled that this case falls under the jurisdiction of the Administrative Court and should be retried from the beginning. It stated that lawsuits related to military compensation should be handled in administrative trials, and processing it as a civil trial was incorrect.
The Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Chief Justice Lee Suk-yeon) ruled to overturn the appellate decision in the monetary lawsuit filed against the government by former military officer Song during the 'Yoon Pil-yong case' and ordered the case to be transferred to the Seoul Administrative Court.
The 'Yoon Pil-yong case' involves the former head of the Capital Defense Command, Yoon Pil-yong (major general), who was a key military figure during the Park Chung-hee administration. He remarked, 'President Park has aged, so we must prepare for a successor,' leading to significant punishment for the officers who followed him on charges of conspiracy to stage a coup.
While serving as an army major, Song was arrested in connection with the Yoon Pil-yong case, sentenced to seven years in prison, and incarcerated in an army correctional facility before being released on parole. Following that, Song received a dismissal of charges in January 1976 through a retrial. A dismissal of charges is a procedure where the court concludes the lawsuit without substantive deliberation after determining that there are issues with the lawsuit process.
After the dismissal of charges, Song was reinstated as a military police major but suddenly submitted a request for retirement and received a retirement order in April 1976. However, in September 2016, more than 40 years later, Song filed a lawsuit at the Seoul Administrative Court to invalidate his retirement order. He claimed that he was forced to write the retirement request against his will. In September of the following year, he received a ruling confirming the invalidation. Song received a 'May 31, 1978, retirement' order again from the Minister of National Defense and also received the delayed wages of 9,516,730 won that he missed due to an early retirement.
In March 2022, Song filed a monetary lawsuit against the government at the Seoul Central District Court, alleging that he suffered damages corresponding to the interest due to the late payment of some wages by the Ministry of National Defense. The first trial ruled against Song. The court stated that the three-year statute of limitations for claims against the government had expired. According to the Government Compensation Act, a three-year or five-year statute of limitations applies from the date the victim or their legal representative became aware of the damage and the perpetrator, or from the date the illegal act occurred. Song appealed the first trial ruling but the appellate court dismissed the appeal. Song then appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court stated, 'The lower court should have transferred this lawsuit to the appropriate court, the Seoul Administrative Court.' It continued, 'While the first trial ruled that the cause of action was unclear and did not transfer the case to the Administrative Court, in the second trial, despite Song's argument that it should be transferred to the Administrative Court, it dismissed his claim solely on the grounds that the statute of limitations appeared to have already expired, thereby maintaining the first trial ruling.'