【Holding】
[1] Requirements for the establishment of sectional ownership of a building, and the meaning and method of "act of division" in this context / Whether the existence of an act of division may be recognized where the intent to divide has been objectively manifested through an application for a building permit, a sale-in-lots contract, etc., even before the sectional buildings are physically completed (affirmative), and the time at which sectional ownership is established in such case (= when the structure, form, etc. are completed as a building and the sectional buildings corresponding to the act of division are objectively and physically completed)
[2] Whether Article 20 of the Act on the Ownership and Management of Aggregate Buildings, which prohibits the separate disposition of the right to use the site, applies to the site of an aggregate building before sectional ownership is established (negative) / Where a right to collateral security was created only on the site before sectional ownership was established, and even though sectional ownership was subsequently established and the right to use the site arose, the site was sold through the enforcement of the previously created right to collateral security and thus disposed of separately from the exclusive parts, whether the right to use the site for the exclusive parts is extinguished (affirmative)
[3] Whether a right to collateral security created on the site after the right to use the site has arisen is void as constituting a separate disposition of the right to use the site prohibited by Article 20 of the Act on the Ownership and Management of Aggregate Buildings (affirmative), and the effect of a sale of the site in auction proceedings for the enforcement of such right to collateral security (void) / In such case, where a registration restricting rights, such as a prior seizure registration by the State, had been made on the site before the right to use the site arose and was cancelled in the above auction proceedings, whether this may be regarded as equivalent to a case where the site was disposed of through validly conducted disposition proceedings based on the seizure (negative)
【Summary of Decision】
[1] For sectional ownership of a building to be established, not only must a building exist from an objective and physical standpoint and the divided parts of the building have structural and functional independence, but there must also be an act of division intended to make each physically partitioned part of the building an object of sectional ownership. Here, an act of division is a juristic act intended to divide a specific part of the building and make it an object of separate ownership without changing the physical form and nature of the building; there are no particular restrictions on its timing or method, and it suffices that the intent to divide of the person having the right of disposition is objectively manifested externally. Even before the sectional buildings are physically completed, the existence of an act of division may be recognized if the intent to divide, i.e., to make a building to be newly constructed in the future into sectional buildings, has been objectively manifested through an application for a building permit, a sale-in-lots contract, etc. However, sectional ownership is established only at the time when the structure, form, etc. are completed as a building and the sectional buildings corresponding to the act of division are objectively and physically completed.
[2] The right to use the site, the separate disposition of which is prohibited under Article 20 of the Act on the Ownership and Management of Aggregate Buildings, is a right that a sectional owner holds in the site of a building in order to own the exclusive part, and presupposes the establishment of sectional ownership. Therefore, the provision prohibiting separate disposition does not apply to the site of an aggregate building before sectional ownership is established. Furthermore, where a right to collateral security was created only on the site before sectional ownership was established, and even though sectional ownership was subsequently established and the right to use the site arose, the site was sold through the enforcement of the previously created right to collateral security and thereby disposed of separately from the exclusive parts, the right to use the site for those exclusive parts is extinguished.
[3] After the right to use the site has arisen with respect to the entire land of an aggregate building, a sectional owner's right to use the site may not be disposed of separately from the exclusive part unless otherwise provided for by the rules (Article 20 of the Act on the Ownership and Management of Aggregate Buildings), and a disposition of the right to use the site in violation thereof is void even if made through compulsory auction proceedings by a court. Therefore, a right to collateral security created on the site after the right to use the site has arisen is void as constituting a separate disposition of the right to use the site prohibited by Article 20 of the Act on the Ownership and Management of Aggregate Buildings, and even if the site is sold in auction proceedings for the enforcement of the void right to collateral security, such sale is likewise void. In such case, even if a registration restricting rights, such as a prior seizure registration by the State, had been made on the site before the right to use the site arose, since the registration restricting rights was not originally subject to cancellation, even if the registration restricting rights was cancelled in auction proceedings for the enforcement of such void right to collateral security, this cannot be regarded as equivalent to a case where the site was disposed of through validly conducted disposition proceedings based on the seizure. Therefore, the registration of ownership transfer made on the site on the ground of the sale by a person who purchased the site in auction proceedings for the enforcement of such void right to collateral security is void.
【Referenced Statutes】
[1] Articles 1 and 2 subparags. 1 and 3 of the Act on the Ownership and Management of Aggregate Buildings [2] Articles 2 subparag. 6 and 20(1) and (2) of the Act on the Ownership and Management of Aggregate Buildings [3] Article 20(1) and (2) of the Act on the Ownership and Management of Aggregate Buildings
【Referenced Precedents】
[1] Supreme Court Decision 2016Da219419, 219426, June 28, 2018 (Gong2018Ha, 1442)
[2] Supreme Court Decision 2010Da6017, May 27, 2010 (Gong2010Ha, 1265)
Supreme Court Decision 2017Da9121, 9138, March 31, 2022 (Gong2022Sang, 765)
[3] Supreme Court Decision 2009Da26145, June 23, 2009 (Gong2009Ha, 1187)
(Source: Supreme Court Decision 2025Da218240, August 13, 2026 | Judicial Information Disclosure Portal, Supreme Court of Korea)
2026. 10. 26. · By Attorney Dongwoo Shin
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