Yang Chi-seung Challenges 1 Million Won Fine... Gangnam Gym Dispute Heads to Public Trial

At National Assembly Audit, Yang Claims "16 Businesses Suffered 4 Billion Won in Damages"

Debate Over Lack of Protection for Public Facility Tenants

Gym Closed Last Year After Losing Building Handover Lawsuit

Legal Battle Resumes Over Criminal Liability

Yang Chi-seung, a health trainer who has claimed to have suffered damages of approximately 1.5 billion won, including the loss of his deposit and facility investment, after opening his business in a donation-conditional public facility, will now stand trial on charges of unauthorized use of public property.

According to the legal community on July 13, Judge Lee Hosun of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 3 held the first hearing on July 9 for Yang, who was indicted for violating the Public Property and Goods Management Act. Previously, the court had issued a summary order imposing a fine of 1 million won, but Yang challenged the ruling and requested a formal trial, leading to the proceedings now being held as an open trial.

Yang Chi-seung, Fitness Trainer. Photo by Yonhap News

According to the indictment, Yang signed a lease agreement with a private developer in 2018 and operated a fitness center in a multi-use building located at the Nonhyeon-dong public parking lot in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Some reports state that Yang officially began operations in the building in 2019. The facility is a donation-conditional public facility, where a private entity constructs a building on public land, manages and operates it for a set period, and then transfers management rights to Gangnam-gu. The private operator's right to use and earn from the facility ended in November 2022. Prosecutors allege that Yang continued to use the space and generated business income even after the management period had expired. In contrast, Yang's side argues that he was not properly informed about the end of the management period or the timing of his required move-out when signing the lease.

At the first hearing, Yang stated, "I inquired with Gangnam District Office about whether leasing was possible and signed the contract after receiving a response that there would be no problem," adding, "I was even told to 'run your business for 10 or 20 years and make a lot of money.'" He also appealed that it was difficult to vacate immediately since he could not recover his deposit.

After Gangnam-gu received management rights over the facility following the end of the private developer's management period, the district required tenants to vacate. Yang lost the building handover lawsuit filed by Gangnam-gu and closed his gym in 2025. He has maintained that he suffered around 1.5 billion won in damages, including his deposit, facility investment, and membership refunds, and has labeled this incident as a so-called "jeonse scam" case.

In October last year, Yang appeared as a witness at a National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee audit, stating, "My personal loss amounts to about 1.5 billion won, including a non-returned deposit of 350 million won." He also claimed that there were 16 affected businesses related to the Nonhyeon-dong public parking lot, with total damages of around 4 billion won. At the time, he said that neither the landlord, the certified real estate agent, nor the district office had warned him about the end of the operating period for the donation-conditional facility, adding, "I thought it would be safer since the building was managed by a public institution, but tenants who suffered damages ended up being criminally charged as unauthorized occupants."

In the National Assembly, it was pointed out that although the initial agreement between Gangnam-gu and the private operator included provisions for notifying tenants about the expiration of their rights, such clauses were omitted during amendments to the agreement. It is known that Gangnam-gu has since proposed policy improvements to the relevant authorities, including obligations to pre-notify tenants and require them to purchase deposit insurance. In the ongoing criminal trial, the main issues are expected to be when Yang learned about the expiration of the management period and the loss of his right to use the facility, and whether there was any legitimate reason for him to continue using the space afterward. Separately from this criminal case, Yang is also pursuing an administrative lawsuit against Gangnam-gu.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.