'Yojin Y-CITY Donation' Audit... Goyang City Reports 5 Related Officials to Prosecution for 'Breach of Duty and Other Charges'

"Despite Generating Massive Profits, Failed to Fulfill Promised Donation and Handover Obligations"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Goyang City has disclosed the results of a special audit related to the Yojin Y-CITY donation and has reported the involved public officials to the prosecution.

On the 6th, Goyang City announced, "We have completed the 'Yojin Y-CITY Donation Non-fulfillment Special Audit' and requested an investigation by the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office Goyang Branch against five related public officials on charges including breach of duty."

According to the City Audit Office, the special audit conducted from September 2019 to recently found that Yojin Development proposed to donate land and buildings to Goyang City by dismantling distribution business facilities on approximately 110,000㎡ of land at 1237 Baekseok-dong, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang City, in 2009, for the construction of a residential-commercial complex apartment. They proposed to donate 36,247㎡ of land and an office building worth about 120 billion KRW.

The proposal included plans for an office building with a building area of 3,600.54㎡, a total area of 86,300.24㎡ (above-ground total area 59,930.72㎡, underground total area 26,369.52㎡), a land-to-building ratio of 53.97%, a floor area ratio of 898.38%, and 659 parking spaces.

Perspective view at the time of sale in June 2013 [Provided by Goyang City]

At that time, the city changed the urban management plan in January and February 2010, during the 4th elected administration, to establish necessary matters regarding public contributions with Yojin Development, including the dismantling of distribution business facilities.

However, the city made an agreement in April 2012, during the 5th elected administration, which did not specifically state the size or value of the office building subject to donation, following the initial agreement.

As a result, as of September 2021, Goyang City and Yojin Development are engaged in a lawsuit at the Seoul High Court regarding the construction of the building and the fulfillment of the donation.

Although part of the land subject to donation was designated as an urban planning facility for the establishment of an autonomous private high school, which made school establishment practically impossible at the time of the agreement, the city gave up on receiving the donation and instead agreed to transfer ownership of the school land free of charge to Hwikyung Academy, which has a special relationship with Yojin Development.

In September 2016, despite the office building and school land, which were conditions of approval for the housing construction project and part of the initial and additional agreements, not being donated to the city, the city processed the overall usage inspection of Yojin Development's housing construction project, resulting in delays in the donation fulfillment.

Donation Building Construction Layout [Provided by Goyang City]

The City Audit Office also explained regarding the site, "Although the Korea Land and Urban Planning Society raised the need to strengthen self-sufficient functions and create a Compact City through a 2008 service result, the city approved the housing construction project plan by increasing the total area of apartment housing and reducing the total area of office and retail facilities, contrary to the original service results, thus failing to secure self-sufficient functions."

In addition, the City Audit Office pointed out a total of nine issues, including ▲ improper handling of urban management plan changes ▲ inappropriate conclusion of public contribution implementation agreements ▲ improper handling of office building construction permits ▲ inappropriate filing of lawsuits to confirm the existence of donation obligations, and provided these as investigation materials.

The city submitted all the results and evidence of the 'Yojin Y-CITY Donation Non-fulfillment Special Audit,' which was investigated over the past two years, to the prosecution along with the request for investigation.

Mayor Lee Jae-jun of Goyang City criticized, "Although this happened before my term, Yojin Development has constructed and sold the Y-CITY residential-commercial complex apartment (6,137㎡ at 1237 Baekseok-dong) with a total project cost of 1.969 trillion KRW, gaining enormous profits, yet it still has not fulfilled its promised donation obligations to the city."

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