한･중･일 구분소유권제도의 비교법적 고찰

A Comparative Legal Study on the Condominium Ownership Systems in Korea, China, and Japan

This study conducts a comparative legal analysis of the condominium ownership systems of Korea, China, and Japan, examining their historical development, structural framework, and distinctive features. Using a doctrinal and literature-based method, it explores the origins and legal placement of condominium ownership, the tripartite structure of exclusive and common ownership with land-use rights, the governance and decision-making mechanisms, and key issues such as management rules and parking allocation. All three countries share a tripartite ownership model designed to balance efficient land use with the maintenance of communal order in multi-unit housing. Japan, through the 1962 Act on Building Unit Ownership, established Asia’s first comprehensive legal framework and subsequently strengthened enforcement by granting legal personality and extensive powers to management associations under supplemental legislation. Korea, with the 1984 Act on Ownership and Management of Collective Buildings, filled gaps in its Civil Code but still faces recurring disputes due to the lack of corporate status for management bodies and insufficient statutory rules on income from common areas and parking. China, by incorporating condominium ownership into its 2007 Property Law and the 2021 Civil Code, achieved systematic coherence and codified modern communal values such as environmental obligations and public-interest duties. The study concludes that Korea should consider adopting Japan’s procedural coherence and China’s systemic consistency by granting legal personality to management bodies, clarifying common property revenues, rationalizing reconstruction procedures, and integrating community-based obligations into law. The findings highlight condominium ownership as not merely a property institution but a foundational mechanism for sustainable urban governance.