ROK Navy Sues Jeju Island Protesters for Cost Overruns
It seems to me that the ROK Navy does have a point here because if these protesters were conducting illegal actions that caused cost overruns why should the Korean taxpayer be on the hook for this?:
The South Korean Navy is demanding damages from local groups and residents in Jeju Island for “taxpayer losses” incurred by their opposition to the construction of a new naval base.The groups targeted include the village association of Gangjeong in the city of Seogwipo.“On Mar. 28, we filed a suit with Seoul Central District Court for the exercise of indemnity rights for the Jeju multi-purpose port complex,” the Navy announced in a press release on Mar. 29.“The purpose of this exercise of indemnity rights is to hold those responsible accountable for losses in taxpayer money from among the additional costs of 27.5 billion won (US$23.8 million) incurred due to the [14-month] delay in the port’s construction period owing to illegal obstruction of operations,” it added.
The total compensation claim amounted to 3.4 billion won (US$2.9 million) of the additional costs, with the Gangjeong village association listed among the defendants alongside five groups and 117 residents and activities who took action to oppose the naval base construction.Last year, Samsung C&T demanded 36 billion won (US$31.2 million) in compensation from the Navy for delays in the construction schedule; a figure of 27.5 billion won (US$23.8 million) was finally settled on after mediation by the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board. Mediation is currently under way for Daelim Construction’s claim for 23 billion won (US$19.9 million) in compensation. [Hankyoreh]
You can read more at the link.
Suing protesters sounds like the Trump-y thing to do.
A way to look at it is that they are suing people conducting criminal activity.
Since it can be proven the protestors caused tax payers to pay penalties, “… due to the [14-month] delay in the port’s construction period owing to illegal obstruction of operations,” the protestors should pay.
And if they don’t like it, vote differently next time. 😉
But couldn’t this possibly set a bad precedent? Next, companies can sue their workers for going on strike, lol.
But then again, if the taxpayers pay for the delays, I also wouldn’t put it past companies here to pay protesters to cause delays if the company can actually profit from it.
@5, Bingo!
@Andy, if the workers go on strike and then do something like burn down a building or destroy other property on the grounds of the business they should be held legally accountable in my opinion.