Namyangju Wangsuk Landowners Absent from LH Environmental Impact Assessment Briefing

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Landowners in the 3rd phase new town, Wangsu District in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, have announced their intention to boycott the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH)'s draft Environmental Impact Assessment briefing session. They claim that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and LH are ignoring the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), and that the government’s proposed land compensation is significantly lower than the surrounding market prices.

The National Coalition for Public Housing Districts’ Namyangju Wangsu District Joint Countermeasure Committee stated on the 7th, "Residents have decided not to attend the forced, administrative convenience-style briefing session that the Ministry of Land and LH are trying to push through on the 8th."

According to the committee, despite the ongoing high-level social distancing measures due to the spread of COVID-19, LH plans to hold the draft Environmental Impact Assessment briefing session at Sanung Church on the 8th. Currently, LH intends to allow only 40 landowners from Wangsu District to attend. This accounts for only about 1.3% of the approximately 3,000 landowners in Wangsu District.

The committee questioned, "Who exactly is this briefing for?" and expressed that even this limited attendance by first-come, first-served basis has caused extreme opposition among residents. They further stated their plan to "demand LH hold a public hearing after the government announces that COVID-19 has subsided."

The committee also took a firm stance, saying that the compensation amount is far below the surrounding market prices and is unacceptable. They explained that the apartment prices in Dasan District, just a 10-minute walk away, have recently reached 800 million to 1 billion KRW, and even if compensated for 1,000 pyeong (approximately 3,305 square meters) of farmland, relocation would be difficult considering capital gains tax.

In fact, the actual transaction price of an 84㎡ unit in 'Dasan Pentarium Rivert Terrace Phase 1' in Dasan-dong, Namyangju, was 955 million KRW last year, and 'Dasan Nature & e-Pyeonhansesang' was sold for 898 million KRW last month, showing a sharp rise in housing prices in the surrounding area.

They particularly argue that capital gains tax is excessively high. The committee lamented, "Currently, the capital gains tax reduction rate for cash compensation is 10%, the lowest ever. After paying 20-40% capital gains tax on the low compensation, we worry whether it will be possible to establish a new home."

The committee emphasized that "in cases of compulsory acquisition for public interest, compensation is inevitably paid at appraised values lower than those in non-development restricted areas, and due to the rapid rise in surrounding land prices, it is impossible to purchase replacement land with compensation after tax deductions," calling for legal amendments to reduce capital gains tax for public housing districts.

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