2016-2017 Daewoo's legal maneuver and Fundraising efforts

4월 18일
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최종 수정일: 4월 23일

An excerpt of a news article of Korea University News with the screen capture of the Story Funding, which reads: "Our law schools's international human rights clinic began a crowd funding in order to raise the litigation expenses for Kyaukphyu villagers in Myanmar. Korean companies' resource development projects nearly robbed the Kyaukphyu villagers of their land, some people felt and their donations added up to KRW 2.24M."

After the lawsuit was filed in March 2016, Daewoo International filed a request for deposit of the the attorney fees in the amount of an equivalent of USD 25,000 at the F/X rate then. (At the end of South Korean trials, the loser pays the winner's attorney fees without any exception for public interest litigation, in the modest amounts set by the court upon the winner's motion. Under a very esoteric provision in Civil Procedure Code Article 117, a defendant can demand that the plaintiff without established addresses or means to deposit with the court a sufficient fund to pay for the estimated attorney fees of the defendant in case of their victory.) The court granted Daewoo's request upon which the lawsuit will be dismissed if the deposit is not made on time. Including the motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction and the later motion to certify the plaintiffs' powers of attorney, this maneuver was part of the legal roadblocks set up by POSCO's legal team.

The Clinic launched a fundraising campaign both online on DAUM Story Funding (a news article attached below) and through established charities (a grant proposal to Open Society Foundation attached below) and successfully raised the fund and made the deposit by 2017.