Public Development of Jjokbangchon 'Strongly Opposed'... Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport "Proceeding After Collecting Residents' Opinions"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] There is strong opposition from land and building owners in the Dongja-dong shantytown near Seoul Station regarding the redevelopment project plan. In response, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) has begun efforts to appease concerns, stating that they will proceed with fair compensation based on current market prices and fully reflect the opinions of local residents.

On the 9th, MOLIT announced through a press release that building and land owners will be fairly compensated based on appraised prices considering current transaction market prices.

In addition to compensation, residents among the building and land owners within the project area will be granted priority rights to purchase public housing or private sale housing (excluding the cost of basic living facility installation from the sale price).

For building and land owners residing outside the project area, those without homes will be granted special supply rights for public housing.

However, actual compensation will be carried out after completing the designation of the project area within this year, followed by a basic compensation survey to collect information on buildings, land, ownership status, and residents’ requests, and then establishing a detailed compensation plan.

Accordingly, the final compensation plan is expected to be confirmed and announced after the district plan, reflecting residents’ opinions, is approved (scheduled for 2022).

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Concept of 'Prior Relocation and Good Circulation'.

Earlier, on the 5th, MOLIT announced plans to promote a public housing district project on approximately 47,000㎡ in the Dongja-dong shantytown area of Yongsan-gu, aiming to build a total of 2,410 housing units, including 1,450 public housing units and 960 private sale units.

However, the Huam Special Planning District 1 (Dongja) Preparatory Committee issued a press release on the 9th strongly opposing the plan, stating, "The government abruptly announced the plan without any prior agreement or consultation with land and building owners," and "We strongly oppose the government’s plan."

The committee also criticized the government’s compensation plan, saying, "It is an act of depriving private property rights under the pretext of public interest," and "The concept of compensation mentioned by MOLIT can be interpreted as the government forcibly acquiring designated land at official land prices in cash and depriving land and building owners of their private property rights."

In response, MOLIT explained, "Due to the nature of the public housing district project, the residents’ inspection prior to the announcement on the 5th could not be made public externally, so prior consent from residents could not be obtained," and added, "We are currently conducting procedures to hear residents’ opinions according to legal processes." The residents’ inspection period is from the announcement date on the 5th until the 19th.

Furthermore, MOLIT emphasized, "In addition to collecting opinions during the residents’ inspection, we plan to sufficiently gather opinions through continuous communication such as residents’ briefings and residents’ councils," and "We will work closely with Seoul City, Yongsan-gu, LH, SH, and others to ensure that residents’ opinions are reflected in the project by fully collecting and implementing their requests."

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