Dobong Tax Office, Embassy of Jukenya, and 5 Others Transformed into Beautiful Public Buildings

Ministry of Economy and Finance Holds 2nd National Property Deliberation Committee Meeting... 7 Pilot Project Sites Selected

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The government is launching a pilot project called 'Creating Beautiful Public Buildings' targeting seven public offices including Dobong Tax Office, Seoul Court Building No. 2, and the Embassy of Kenya.

On the morning of the 31st, the Ministry of Economy and Finance held the '2022 2nd State Property Deliberation Committee' real estate subcommittee meeting at the Government Seoul Office, chaired by Second Vice Minister Ando Geol, where this proposal was reviewed and approved.

This project, first implemented this year, aims to move away from the uniform design of existing public buildings and design them as symbolic structures that express the identity of the building and transform the local landscape. The government plans to increase additional design costs by about 10% and separately reflect design expenses in budget allocation and total project cost estimation. Differentiated support will also be provided at each stage including project planning, design bidding, and construction.

The project targets a total of seven locations: Dobong Tax Office, Seoul Court Building No. 2, Jeju Eastern Police Station, Central Regional Coast Guard Office (Siheung), Misa 2 Police Substation (Hanam), Cheongju Election Commission (Cheongju, Chungbuk), and the Embassy of Kenya.

A Ministry of Economy and Finance official stated, "Given the pilot nature of the project, we prioritized diversity among the new buildings. Accordingly, we selected sites to avoid concentration in terms of building scale (large, medium, small), usage (court, election commission, embassy, etc.), and location (metropolitan area, central, southern, overseas)."

Additionally, the Ministry set the target rate of return for the State Property Management Fund at 2.16% this year. Considering the stable asset market and uncertain domestic and international economic conditions, the target was lowered by 0.31% compared to the previous year. The fund’s operating capital was increased to 730.3 billion KRW, about 80 billion KRW more than in 2021. Most of the funds (92%), excluding those on standby for projects, will be entrusted to the pension investment pool for management and operation.

Furthermore, the ministry established the 'Guidelines for Inspection of Special State Property Operations' to enhance the effectiveness of inspections and management by formalizing corrective actions and training requests for non-cooperative or violating institutions.

Vice Minister Ando Geol said, "The implementation of this pilot project for creating beautiful public buildings will serve as a new momentum for innovation in public building design and quality improvement. We plan to create a successful model for constructing new public buildings, establish an innovative and creative public building architectural culture, and strive to expand this to various government-commissioned buildings in the future."

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