Jung Da-eun, Gwangju City Council Member: "City Only Represents Developer Interests in Central Park District 1 Development Project"

Claims for the Need to Readjust the Direction to Maximize Public Interest

Jeong Da-eun, a member of the Gwangju Metropolitan Council (Buk-gu 2, Democratic Party of Korea), pointed out the damage to public interest and the disregard for principles in the administration during the promotion of the Central Park District 1 development project, a private special case project.

Jeong Da-eun, a member of the Gwangju Metropolitan Council, pointed out during the 4th plenary session of the 316th extraordinary meeting that Gwangju City undermined public interest and ignored principles in the development project of Central Park District 1.
[Photo by Gwangju City Council]

On the 4th, at the 4th plenary session of the 316th extraordinary meeting, Councilor Jeong said, “Central Park, located in the heart of downtown Gwangju, is a 'golden' land where a development project worth 2.2 trillion won is underway,” adding, “The project, which started with public interest, has been delayed for six years without groundbreaking, and only various suspicions have been rampant.”

She stated that during the process of switching the Central Park District 1 private special case project to a post-sale method, Gwangju City only represented the interests of the developer.

Councilor Jeong said, “Compared to the actual detailed design, the floor area ratio increased by 14.27%, the building coverage ratio increased by 3.9%, the number of households increased by 409, the high sale price of about 18 million won per pyeong was maintained, and public contribution fees were reduced, all of which changed the project contents to increase the developer’s profits,” adding, “The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s ‘Private Park Project Guidelines’ were ignored, and the city actively cooperated in maximizing the developer’s profits by incorporating roads passing through Central Park District 1 into park facilities.”

She continued, “The 25 billion won reduction in public contribution fees was to guarantee the developer’s profits as the land area the developer had to purchase increased,” and criticized, “If the developer wants to switch the sale method to pre-sale, the profits previously granted to the developer must be reclaimed.”

She also emphasized, “Procedural principles were violated during the process of changing the project contents by Gwangju City,” stating, “The responsible department ignored the legal affairs officer’s correction instructions regarding changes in shareholder equity and sought external advice.”

Furthermore, she said, “In large-scale development projects, numerous legal relationships are intertwined, and at some point, it becomes impossible to correct issues, so no matter how urgent, legal procedures must be followed and decisions by legal officers must be respected.”

She added, “In large development projects, the interests of developers who need to make profits and the public interest of Gwangju citizens inevitably conflict at every moment,” and “Gwangju City should renegotiate the related projects on an equal footing with the developers and promote the projects in a way that maximizes public interest.”

Meanwhile, the Central Park District 1 private special case project has faced issues such as the change of the preferred negotiation partner from a construction company to a private company after the SPC was formed for project promotion, and the largest shareholder company among several companies forming the implementing company being ousted, with various related lawsuits ongoing.

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