Tennis association sues for return of $22 million invested in military academy courts, saying promises went unfulfilled for nine years

The Korea Tennis Association says it put about 30 billion won into rebuilding the Korea Military Academy’s aging tennis facilities, only to lose both the courts and the money it invested. It has now taken the dispute to court, seeking repayment from the government.

The association said at a news conference in Seoul on Aug. 31 that it had filed a damages suit against the state. Seventeen provincial and metropolitan tennis associations and six affiliated federations joined a statement supporting its demands.

The dispute dates to 2015, when the association says it invested private capital at the academy’s request and with approval from the Ministry of National Defense. The project completely renovated 30 courts. The association maintains that it received assurances that it could operate the courts under a donation-transfer arrangement until it recovered its investment.

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What we are asking for is not special treatment, but for the promise made in the past to be kept.

That arrangement changed a year after construction ended. In December 2016, the academy withdrew approval for the donation transfer and notified the association that the agreement had been terminated. The association says it was then shut out of operating the courts and recovered none of its investment. It also says repeated talks stalled as academy commanders and other officials changed, while interest on privately raised funds added to its financial strain.

The association filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission last December, but says the academy replied that it had no responsibility to return the investment. A formal notice sent in May, challenging the legality of the termination and requesting operating rights, received no response. Association president Joo Won-hong said, “What we are asking for is not special treatment, but for the promise made in the past to be kept.” Its lawyer, Park Sang-ki, said the group wants the operating rights it says were promised. The association also called for the courts to open to athletes and recreational players when doing so would not interfere with cadet training.

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It is unfair for an association that renovated the facilities at the request of a state agency to bear the loss alone.