Open Decision Ledger · Customary law & property rights
Statutory superficies for a new building under a joint mortgage
Supreme Court, Sept. 25, 2025, 2025Da212804 (judgment)
Case name: 토지인도
Official text on the National Law Information Center
Question
Where land and the building on it, both owned by one person, were subject to a joint mortgage before the building was destroyed or demolished and a new building erected, does a statutory superficies for the new building arise when an auction of the mortgaged property leaves the land and the new building with different owners, and does it matter that the mortgagee obtained satisfaction of all or part of the value of the destroyed building by exercising subrogation under Articles 370 and 342 of the Civil Act?
Holding
It does not arise. Unless there are special circumstances, such as the new building's owner being the same person as the land's owner and granting the land's mortgagee a joint mortgage on the new building at the same rank as the land mortgage, no statutory superficies for the new building arises even where an auction of the mortgaged property leaves the land and the new building with different owners. The same applies where the mortgagee obtained satisfaction of all or part of the value of the destroyed building by exercising subrogation under Articles 370 and 342 of the Civil Act, because a joint mortgagee shut out of the exchange value of the burdened new building has no way of recovering the value equivalent to the statutory superficies and suffers unforeseeable loss.
Summary of the holding, verbatim
동일인의 소유에 속하는 토지 및 그 지상 건물에 관하여 공동저당권이 설정된 후 그 지상 건물이 멸실되거나 철거되고 건물이 신축된 경우에, 그 신축건물 소유자가 토지 소유자와 동일하고 토지의 저당권자에게 신축건물에 관하여 토지의 저당권과 동일한 순위의 공동저당권을 설정해 주는 등 특별한 사정이 없는 한, 저당물의 경매로 인하여 토지와 신축건물이 다른 소유자에게 속하게 되더라도 그 신축건물을 위한 법정지상권은 성립하지 않는다.
Unofficial English translation
Where a co-mortgage has been created over land owned by the same person and a building thereon, and the building thereon is destroyed or demolished and a building is newly constructed, unless there are special circumstances, such as the owner of the newly constructed building being the same person as the owner of the land and creating a co-mortgage over the newly constructed building in favor of the mortgagee of the land in the same rank as the mortgage over the land, statutory superficies for the newly constructed building is not established even if, as a result of the auction of the mortgaged property, the land and the newly constructed building come to belong to different owners.
Disposition
Dismissed Stated in the decision
상고를 기각한다. 상고비용은 피고가 부담한다.
Unofficial English translation
The appeal is dismissed. The costs of the final appeal shall be borne by the defendant.
Form of the test
Elements stated Stated in the decision
그 신축건물 소유자가 토지 소유자와 동일하고 토지의 저당권자에게 신축건물에 관하여 토지의 저당권과 동일한 순위의 공동저당권을 설정해 주는 등 특별한 사정이 없는 한
Unofficial English translation
unless there are special circumstances, such as the owner of the newly constructed building being the same person as the owner of the land and creating a co-mortgage over the newly constructed building in favor of the mortgagee of the land in the same rank as the mortgage over the land
Factors
- 저당물의 경매로 인하여 토지와 신축건물이 다른 소유자에게 속하게 되더라도 그 신축건물을 위한 법정지상권은 성립하지 않는다
- 건물이 멸실되거나 철거된 후 신축된 건물에 토지와 동순위의 공동저당권이 설정되지 아니하였는데도
- 공동저당권자가 법정지상권이 성립하는 신축건물의 교환가치를 취득할 수 없게 되는 결과
- 법정지상권의 가액 상당 가치를 되찾을 길이 막혀
- 저당권자가 민법 제370조, 제342조에 따른 물상대위권 행사 등을 통하여 멸실된 건물의 가액 전부 또는 일부에 관한 만족을 얻은 경우에도
Unofficial English translation
• statutory superficies for the newly constructed building is not established even if, as a result of the auction of the mortgaged property, the land and the newly constructed building come to belong to different owners
• even though no co-mortgage in the same rank as that on the land has been created over the building newly constructed after the building was destroyed or demolished,
• with the result that the co-mortgagee can no longer acquire the exchange value of the newly constructed building for which statutory superficies is established
• being left with no way to recover a value equivalent to the value of the statutory superficies
• even where the mortgagee has obtained satisfaction in whole or in part in the amount of the destroyed building through the exercise of the right of subrogation under Articles 370 and 342 of the Civil Act, etc.
Relation to precedent
Follows earlier decisions Stated in the decision
대법원 2003. 12. 18. 선고 98다43601 전원합의체 판결(공2004상, 134), 대법원 2014. 9. 4. 선고 2011다73038 판결(공2014하, 1972)
Unofficial English translation
Supreme Court Decision 98Da43601 decided December 18, 2003, en banc judgment (Gong 2004 Sang, 134), Supreme Court Decision 2011Da73038 decided September 4, 2014 (Gong 2014 Ha, 1972)
Decisions referred to
대법원 2003. 12. 18. 선고 98다43601 전원합의체 판결(공2004상, 134), 대법원 2014. 9. 4. 선고 2011다73038 판결(공2014하, 1972)
Burden of proof
Not addressed Not in the decision
Open question and revisit condition
What counts as the special circumstances that take a case out of this rule, beyond the new building's owner being the land's owner and granting a same-rank joint mortgage on the new building?
A later Supreme Court decision that recognises a further category of special circumstances, beyond a same-rank joint mortgage on the new building, under which statutory superficies does arise, or an amendment to Articles 342, 366 or 370 of the Civil Act, would require this entry to be read again.
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Lower-court contrast & scope of application
Lower-court reading vs. Supreme Court holding
Lower-court context: The Cheongju District Court, in its judgment of 25 April 2025 (2024Na57716), held that the defendant was in possession of the land, so the defendant had to demolish the structures on it and deliver the land to the plaintiff. It also held that even if Industrial Bank of Korea received from the defendant the insurance proceeds equivalent for the destroyed buildings, as long as the joint mortgage registration was not cancelled, the bank could still expect to realise the full exchange value of both the land and the buildings, ultimately as bare land with no restriction, so no statutory superficies arose for the defendant's new structures.
Supreme Court standard: The Supreme Court found no error in either holding. It restated the rule that no statutory superficies for the new building arises absent special circumstances such as a same-rank joint mortgage granted on the new building to the land's mortgagee, and affirmed that the result is unchanged even where the mortgagee obtained satisfaction of all or part of the destroyed building's value by exercising subrogation under Articles 370 and 342 of the Civil Act. The Justices unanimously dismissed the appeal and put its costs on the defendant.
Distinguishing conditions
- A case in which the new building's owner is the same person as the land's owner and has granted the land's mortgagee a joint mortgage on the new building at the same rank as the land mortgage.
- A case in which an auction of the mortgaged property did not leave the land and the new building in different owners' hands.
- A case in which the joint mortgage registration had been cancelled, so that the reasoning that the mortgagee could still expect the whole exchange value of the land as bare land does not apply.
Record verification notes
Check first whether the new building's owner was the land's owner and whether a joint mortgage on the new building was granted at the same rank as the land mortgage, since the rule turns on the absence of such special circumstances. Then look at the register for any cancellation of the joint mortgage registration, and at what the mortgagee received for the destroyed building by way of subrogation under Articles 370 and 342 of the Civil Act, which the Court expressly held does not change the result. Confirm also that the auction in fact left the land and the new building with different owners, and whether the destruction of the old building was ever registered.
From the official text
Points at issue
동일인의 소유에 속하는 토지 및 그 지상 건물에 관하여 공동저당권이 설정된 후 그 지상 건물이 멸실되거나 철거되고 건물이 신축된 경우, 저당물의 경매로 인하여 토지와 신축건물이 다른 소유자에게 속하게 되면 신축건물을 위한 법정지상권이 성립하는지 여부(원칙적 소극) / 이는 저당권자가 민법 제370조, 제342조에 따른 물상대위권 행사 등을 통하여 멸실된 건물의 가액 전부 또는 일부에 관한 만족을 얻은 경우에도 마찬가지인지 여부(적극)
Unofficial English translation
Where a co-mortgage has been created over land owned by the same person and a building thereon, and the building thereon is destroyed or demolished and a building is newly constructed, whether statutory superficies for the newly constructed building is established if, as a result of the auction of the mortgaged property, the land and the newly constructed building come to belong to different owners (in principle, negative) / Whether the same applies even where the mortgagee has obtained satisfaction in whole or in part in the amount of the destroyed building through the exercise of the right of subrogation under Articles 370 and 342 of the Civil Act, etc. (affirmative)
Summary of the holding
동일인의 소유에 속하는 토지 및 그 지상 건물에 관하여 공동저당권이 설정된 후 그 지상 건물이 멸실되거나 철거되고 건물이 신축된 경우에, 그 신축건물 소유자가 토지 소유자와 동일하고 토지의 저당권자에게 신축건물에 관하여 토지의 저당권과 동일한 순위의 공동저당권을 설정해 주는 등 특별한 사정이 없는 한, 저당물의 경매로 인하여 토지와 신축건물이 다른 소유자에게 속하게 되더라도 그 신축건물을 위한 법정지상권은 성립하지 않는다. 건물이 멸실되거나 철거된 후 신축된 건물에 토지와 동순위의 공동저당권이 설정되지 아니하였는데도 그 신축건물을 위한 법정지상권이 성립한다고 해석하게 되면, 공동저당권자가 법정지상권이 성립하는 신축건물의 교환가치를 취득할 수 없게 되는 결과 법정지상권의 가액 상당 가치를 되찾을 길이 막혀 당초 토지에 관하여 아무런 제한이 없는 나대지로서의 교환가치 전체를 실현시킬 수 있다고 기대하고 담보를 취득한 공동저당권자에게 불측의 손해를 입히기 때문이다. 이러한 법리는, 저당권자가 민법 제370조, 제342조에 따른 물상대위권 행사 등을 통하여 멸실된 건물의 가액 전부 또는 일부에 관한 만족을 얻은 경우에도 마찬가지라고 보아야 한다.
Order
상고를 기각한다. 상고비용은 피고가 부담한다.
Unofficial English translation
The appeal is dismissed. The costs of the final appeal shall be borne by the defendant.
Provisions referred to
민법 제342조, 제366조, 제370조
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