A ruling has come down in the appellate court stating that the state has no responsibility to compensate for the damage caused by the earthquake in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. This overturns the first trial's judgment that the earthquakes in November 2017 and February 2018 in Pohang were due to the geothermal power generation project conducted as part of a government research and development program.
The Daegu High Court's 1st Civil Division, led by Director General Jeong Yong-dal, on the 13th, overturned the first trial's ruling that ordered the state and POSCO to pay between 2 million to 3 million won per person in a lawsuit for damages filed by 111 citizens of Pohang.
The court stated, "After reviewing the records, we found that there was insufficient evidence regarding the negligence claimed by the plaintiffs," and added, "We also canceled the claims of the plaintiffs who partially won in the first trial and decided to dismiss all claims by the plaintiffs."
It continued, "This judgment cannot be considered final as the Supreme Court is still pending," but noted, "There are various perspectives on the earthquake, and while we do not completely believe that our court's judgment is 100% correct, there is not enough evidence to acknowledge negligence concerning the earthquake damages."
On November 15, 2017, a magnitude 5.4 earthquake occurred in the Heung-hae Township of North Pohang, which was determined by a government joint investigation team to be a triggered earthquake resulting from the government's geothermal power plant project, leading local organizations in Pohang to recruit citizens for a lawsuit seeking compensation.
The first trial court awarded 3 million won in damages to citizens who experienced the main shock of magnitude 5.4 on November 15, 2017, and 200 million won to those who experienced only one of the two earthquakes, including a magnitude 4.6 aftershock on February 11, 2018. At that time, the court explained, "We recognized the state's liability for damages, as the earthquakes were judged to have occurred due to the geothermal power generation project, and the damages were calculated considering the significant efforts made by the state for disaster recovery."
However, the state, contesting this, has appealed along with the Pohang Earthquake Citizens Countermeasure Committee and the Pohang 11·15 Triggered Earthquake Citizens Countermeasure Committee.