Status of Association Member and Status to Purchase a Unit of Structure in the ACT ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF URBAN AREAS AND RESIDENTIAL ENVIRONMENTS: Focused on the Supreme Court Decision 2023. 6. 29, 2022Du56586, etc.

The law responsible for the biggest axis of new housing supply is the ACT ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF URBAN AREAS AND RESIDENTIAL ENVIRONMENTS (hereinafter referred to as the “Urban Improvement Act”). The Redevelopment Project and the Reconstruction Project are very close to people's lives among the Improvement Projects stipulated in the Urban Improvement Act. In these cases, the fundamental issue is whether the status of the Association Member and the Status to Purchase a Unit of Structure are recognized since the Improvement Projects are implemented by supplying new housing to those who participated as an Association Member. The Urban Improvement Act also has provisions concerning the Status of Association Member and limits the Right to Purchase a Unit of Structure. This is to restrain the inflow of speculators and protect the property rights of existing association members by limiting changes in the number of members and splitting shares. However, there are still various cases in the Improvement Projects. And the court's ruling on individual cases appeared to be an inconsistent result. The working community on the Improvement Projects has been quite embarrassed by that. It is difficult to find academic research on it, even though the legal situation regarding the recognition of the Status of Association Member and the Status to Purchase a Unit of Structure is not stable. Therefore, this paper examines the validity of the cases—the Supreme Court Decision 2023. 6. 29, 2022Du56586, etc.—that are representative cases concerning the Status of Association Member and the Status to Purchase a Unit of Structure. In particular, the Supreme Court Decision 2023. 6. 29, 2022Du56586 dealt with not only the case where one person owns a number of housings but also the situation where one household owns a number of housings as the major issues. This paper analyzes the main arguments in the precedents above. For example: (1) determination of the Status of Association Member and the Status to Purchase a Unit of Structure; (2) overlapping application of the household standard regulation and individual standard regulation; and (3) statutory interpretation.