'It's not my land'... but if you've used it for a long time, you can get 'legal protection'

The court ruled that even if land is not owned by one, one can receive legal protection if it has been used for free for a long period of time.

The Sokcho branch of the Chuncheon District Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit related to the establishment of a passage easement filed by plaintiff A against land owner B last August.

Mr. A purchased land in Yangyang, Gangwon-do in 2001 and built a house to live in.

Afterwards, I tried to sell the house in 2019, but received a reply from the real estate agent that it was impossible.

This was because it was a so-called ‘blind land’, a land with no roads connected to the surrounding roads.

However, Mr. A's position was different.

The position is that there was a passage connecting the land and a general road even before the construction of the house.

Mr. A also claimed that when the land was damaged about 20 years ago, he personally restored it and used it as a passageway.

The court ruled in Mr. A’s favor.

The court said, “Mr. A has been using the passage as a passage to enter the house since 2003,” and “since (the land) has been used for more than 20 years, the conditions for acquiring the right of passage will be met by the end of 2023.”

Attorney Hwang Seo-young of the law firm 'Daeryun', who represented Mr. A, explained, "While Mr. A continued to use the passage at issue in this case, the owner, Mr. B, tolerated the opening of the passage without taking any special measures, such as imposing a toll fee."

He added, “The court also took all of these points into consideration and appears to have recognized Mr. A’s right to pass through the land free of charge.”

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