[Q&A] "Gwangmyeong-Siheung New Town, 2023 Pre-Subscription... Light Rail Likely"

Yoon Sung-won, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is answering questions at a briefing on the plan to promote new public housing sites to expand housing supply, held on the 24th at the Government Complex Sejong in Sejong City.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] The pre-sale for the Gwangmyeong-Siheung district, designated as the sixth 3rd phase new town, will begin in 2023. The north-south connecting railway network is expected to be a light rail transit.

Below is a Q&A session with Yoon Sung-won, 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and Kim Kyu-chul, Director of the Public Housing Promotion Team, who announced the new land site designation plan including the Gwangmyeong-Siheung district on the 24th.

- When is the housing move-in period for this new land site? What about the schedule for the remaining new land sites to be announced in April?

▲ Pre-sale will start from 2023, and sales will begin from 2025. The second phase of land sites to be announced in April will follow a similar schedule. It is difficult to confirm and disclose the exact move-in period, but we plan to expedite pre-sale, sales, construction, and move-in as much as possible.

- What proportion of the pre-sale volume in 2023 will be from the sites announced this time?

▲ Since the district plan and compensation need to be somewhat progressed before proceeding, it is currently difficult to specify how much will be supplied through pre-sale.

- What are the specific plans for the urban railway in the Gwangmyeong-Siheung district?

▲ We plan to construct a north-south connecting railway network, and considering demand and other factors, the railway method is expected to be light rail transit. The start and end points require demand analysis, but we are reviewing options to connect northward to Sindorim Station and southward to KTX Gwangmyeong Station or Sinansan Line Hakon Station. It will also be linked with Subway Lines 1, 2, and 7, Sinansan Line, and the Great Train Express (GTX)-B.

- There were talks that Gwangmyeong-Siheung was dropped at the last minute when the 3rd phase new towns were announced earlier.

▲ Before announcing the new towns, multiple candidate sites were internally reviewed, but it is not true that Gwangmyeong-Siheung was a planned site at that time. The reason for announcing Siheung now is that although it was designated as a special management area and promoted as individual projects, progress was sluggish, and there were many demands for integrated development by the government. The local government also requested integrated development at the government level.

- There is strong opposition from Gwangmyeong-Siheung residents. How will this be resolved?

▲ In a situation where various existing projects were not progressing smoothly, the residents' countermeasure committee also requested integrated development from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the local government requested integrated development at the government level. After today's announcement, we will listen to various opinions and consult with the local government to create a city in the direction residents want and resolve the issues raised.

- Originally, the housing supply scale for the Gwangmyeong-Siheung district housing project was 98,000 households but was reduced to 70,000 households. What is the reason?

▲ Compared to when the original housing project was promoted, the reduction is because logistics complexes, industrial complexes, and some public housing districts have already been developed in the district. Military bases and some roads within the housing district were also excluded, significantly reducing the area.

- Currently, housing price stabilization is needed in Gangnam, Seoul, but since Gwangmyeong-Siheung is in the southwest area, is it difficult to have a significant impact?

▲ Gwangmyeong-Siheung is located about 1 km away from Seoul, so it is expected to absorb a large portion of Seoul's housing demand. If transportation measures are prepared and infrastructure is well established centered on railways, it can sufficiently absorb Seoul's demand.

- How is the development of the Seoul Public Procurement Service site announced in the August 4th measures last year progressing?

▲ The Seoul Public Procurement Service site is currently under consultation to select a temporary relocation office. Once consultations with related agencies are completed, a detailed announcement will be made.

- How many land sites are planned to be announced in the second phase announcement in April?

▲ It is currently under consultation. In the metropolitan area, excluding the 70,000 households in Gwangmyeong-Siheung, 110,000 households' sites need to be selected, and in the provinces, 31,000 households' sites have been announced this time, leaving 39,000 households' sites remaining.

- Existing 3rd phase new towns are also facing project delays due to resident opposition.

▲ It is true that there was resident opposition at the initial announcement stage, but through more than 150 meetings and active communication, we are now receiving considerable cooperation and opposition has greatly decreased. We plan to actively resolve issues by maximizing the collection of opinions from residents of new land sites such as Gwangmyeong-Siheung, Busan, and Gwangju.

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