Kyauk Phyu farmers fined Korean Yuan 27 million after losing case of confiscated farmlands under Shwe Natural Gas Project

The farmers of Kyauk Phyu township in Rakhine State, whose farmlands were confiscated by the authority for the Shwe Natural Gas Project,filed a lawsuit against the South Korean company named POSCO International in 2016.

In December 2022, the Korean court gave the verdict where the farmers, who filed lawsuits, lost the case.

Moreover the Korea court imposed a fine of Korean Yuan 27 million as the farmers lost the case  after POSCO International  asked for compensation for the court proceedings. The fine  is equivalent to Myanmar Kyats  80 million.

“Since the Kyauk Phyu farmers lost the case, POSCO International company demanded the amount as compensation from the farmers in the Korean court. So the court ordered the farmers to compensate the
company with the amount of money,” said U Khin Maung Myint from Gong Chuin village.

Meanwhile, the Korean court sent a notice to the farmers through Kyauk Pyu township court on 26 June.

The money was recently paid to POSCO International  by the South Korean Lgong Law Firm, which represented the case for the farmers (whose land was seized for the Shwe gas project) through the Seoul Central District Court, informed  Khin Maung Myint.

"From our side, we cannot pay the amount. The Korean lawyer's group paid the amount to the  company through the court,” he added.

U Tun Lwin, who mediated between the farmers and a Korean lawyer's group, said that it was  related to the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). The court finally observed the Kyauk Phyu farmers failed in the lawsuit.

More than 90 acres of land belonging to over 100 farmers from Malakyun and Ohntaw village under Kyauk Phyu township were seized in 2010 at a price of Kyats  20 million  per acre for use in  the natural gas project.

20 farmers, who received small compensation for land confiscation, filed a lawsuit with the help of the Lgong Law Firm attorney team and filed a lawsuit at the Central District Court in Seoul in 2016.

Regarding the case, the Seoul Central District Court decided POSCO was not guilty in the land’s  confiscation as it was not related to the company, but the MOGE.

In December, the final order was passed, and the farmers who sued lost their case. Currently, the local farmers have lost their land and also the  hope for filing another lawsuit for their damages, lamented an affected farmer.