Kim et al. v. Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

This is an administrative lawsuit brought by residents and climate advocacy groups against the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport seeking to nullify or cancel the approval of the “Yongin Advanced System Semiconductor Cluster National Industrial Complex Plan” The plaintiffs argue that the project will substantially increase greenhouse gas emissions, exacerbate climate change, and infringe their constitutional and statutory rights to a safe and healthy environment. They rely on the Framework Act on Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth and environmental statutes, asserting that monetary compensation cannot remedy the irreversible harms of climate change. The plaintiffs contend that the project’s approval relied on deficient environmental and climate impact assessments that failed to account for the full lifecycle emissions of the industrial complex, including electricity demand and hydrogen co-firing limitations. They argue that the development breaches Korea’s national carbon reduction obligations, undermines the 1.5°C climate target, and ignores low-carbon alternatives such as stricter energy efficiency measures and renewable integration. They further assert that approving the project sets a precedent that weakens regulatory oversight and ESG commitments in industrial planning. The plaintiffs emphasize the broader consequences of the project’s emissions, estimating that it would add several million tons of CO₂ to national outputs, threatening local communities, future generations, and Korea’s climate commitments.