[2nd Report] Wanju County Office’s ‘Confused’ Response... Fueling Discord Among Residents

Late Admission of Issuing and Then Cancelling Construction Completion Permit for Sanggwanmyeon Problem Structure

Contrary to Wanju County Office's explanation that there were no issues with the foundation work, cracks have already appeared in the concrete blocks even before the completion permit was issued.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Geon-ju] In Saugok Village, Sang-gwan-myeon, Wanju-gun, Jeonbuk, two neighbors who went to court over a boundary stone issue (first report, 10th edition - Resident conflicts caused by Wanju County Office's passive administration) are continuing their relentless fight, while the inadequate response from Wanju County Office has come under scrutiny.

Wanju County Office has consistently responded to Mr. Lee, who lives above the boundary stone, regarding his illegal structure with "there is no major problem," and stated that they will only consider the issue of "re-approval" once a 'change application' is submitted, without taking any action.

On the other hand, Mr. Jang, who lives below, complained, "I went to the county office several times to report that the concrete fence was being built differently from the plans without foundation work when the upper house was constructing it, but they never visited the site even once during the construction period."

He added, "The county office clearly knew it was an illegal structure but still issued a completion permit, which was canceled earlier this year," expressing frustration, "How can an administrative agency ignore complaints, arbitrarily issue permits, and then cancel them without even inspecting the site?"

In response, Wanju County Office told this reporter on May 27 that "Mr. Lee has not yet submitted a completion permit application to the county," but when asked again on the 22nd after learning that a permit had been issued and then canceled, they gave a weak excuse, saying, "A completion permit application was submitted once, and after issuing the permit and conducting a site inspection, deficiencies were found, so it was canceled."

Mr. Lee, who installed the concrete structure and lives above, told this reporter when asked if the county office had issued a completion permit, "I have submitted the completion permit application to the county office and am waiting for approval."

With Mr. Lee saying he is "waiting for the completion permit" and Wanju County Office stating that "the completion permit application has not been received," conflicting statements have emerged, and criticism is spreading that the county office, which should be working to improve residents' convenience and quality of life, is instead fueling conflicts between residents.

Meanwhile, the boundary stone dispute between Mr. Lee and Mr. Jang, who live in the upper and lower houses, escalated to a lawsuit, and the Jeonju District Court ordered Mr. Jang, who built the boundary stone first in the lower house, to dismantle it. Subsequently, the court recommended that Mr. Jang in the upper house rebuild the boundary stone through negotiation.

The court advised Mr. Lee to install the boundary stone by the end of February, but Mr. Lee installed it differently from the plans, leading to the first cancellation of the completion permit by Wanju County Office. Currently, with conflicting statements from the county office and residents, no action has been taken regarding the problematic structure.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.