Goseong-gun Launches Full-Scale Effort to Revive Samsan Elementary School Amid Challenges

Attracting Households with Elementary School Children through Public Rental Housing Construction

Goseong-gun, Gyeongnam Province, has officially commenced construction of public rental housing as part of the Samsan Elementary School Small School Revitalization Project, which had faced difficulties, and is accelerating the project.

The county has continuously worked to resolve the land issues for the Samsan Elementary School Small School Revitalization Project, which had been hindered due to un-inherited land, to smoothly advance the project.

As a result, the land for the project site was purchased in June, and full-scale project commencement began in July.

Perspective view of Samsan Elementary School Small School Revitalization Public Rental Housing.

A private developer, who signed a private purchase agreement with Korea Land and Housing Corporation (hereinafter ‘LH’), will build 10 units of public rental housing aiming for enrollment at Samsan Elementary School in March 2024. Goseong-gun plans to collaborate with LH and Samsan Elementary School to hold a briefing session for tenant recruitment.

◆ Difficulties in Securing the Site After Selection in the Public Contest

On February 25, 2022, Goseong-gun was selected in the Gyeongnam Small School Revitalization Project contest and secured a budget of 3.446 billion KRW to build rental housing, improve living conditions, renovate vacant houses, and operate a distinctive curriculum as part of the Samsan Elementary School Small School Revitalization Project.

However, among the six parcels of land (3,455㎡) in Miryong-ri, Samsan-myeon, which are the target sites for the rental housing, three parcels remained un-inherited. Most heirs live outside the area, and disagreements among heirs and a lack of understanding of the project caused problems from the negotiation stage for land acquisition.

Unlike the Yeong-o Elementary School Small School Revitalization Project, which was directly implemented by Goseong-gun, Samsan Elementary School’s rental housing construction project is led by LH, with land purchase and construction handled by a private developer selected by LH under a private purchase agreement method. Due to unprocessed inheritance registration and numerous negotiation parties, both LH and the private developer expressed difficulties in advancing the project.

To resolve this issue, Goseong-gun visited LH to discuss the procedure of land expropriation after ‘project recognition’ for a public interest project, but since the project involves private land purchase, neither Goseong-gun nor LH could act as the expropriation authority, returning the problem to square one.

An LH official stated that realistically, it would be impossible to proceed with the project after inheritance negotiations and advised Goseong-gun to either select an alternative site or abandon the project.

To make matters worse, the private developer also expressed their intention to abandon the project due to inability to purchase the land.

Goseong-gun judged that it could not give up on a project filled with the hopes of residents and the school.

The county held a council composed of Samsan-myeon residents, Samsan Elementary School staff, and the chairman of the school operation committee to discuss prompt land acquisition measures.

The council decided to explain the necessity of the project through all possible approaches, including local residents, relatives, and alumni associations, and to encourage participation in land purchase negotiations.

They also selected representatives for each parcel and devised a plan for Goseong-gun to directly negotiate with the representatives to support the inheritance procedures.

Accordingly, Goseong-gun sent earnest official letters to local residents, relatives, and alumni associations explaining the difficult situation of Samsan-myeon and Samsan Elementary School and requesting their participation in the project.

During holidays and other occasions when heirs visited Goseong-gun, members of the Samsan Elementary School Small School Revitalization Promotion Council took the lead in continuously informing heirs about the project through neighbors and alumni.

By demonstrating Goseong-gun’s commitment to LH and extending the project deadline twice while persistently persuading the heirs, the heirs came to understand the purpose of the project and expressed willingness to negotiate.

Riding this momentum, Goseong-gun took the initiative to prepare the necessary documents for inheritance negotiations.

Although sharing documents was difficult even among heirs in an era where personal information is equivalent to assets, the heirs trusted the project led by Goseong-gun and sent various documents with the condition of entrusting them.

Starting inheritance negotiations in March this year and conducting intensive administrative efforts for three months, the negotiations were completed in June, and finally, on June 26, the land sale contract for the six parcels was concluded.

Thanks to the tireless cooperation and efforts of Goseong-gun and Samsan-myeon residents, the project was able to start only after one year and four months since being selected in the contest.

Upon hearing this news, Samsan-myeon residents rejoiced that the project, which had not progressed for over a year, finally broke ground, and they expected the prompt project advancement to bring vitality to Samsan-myeon.

County Governor Sang-geun Lee said, “Without the active participation and support of residents, land acquisition would have been impossible, and this project could not succeed in the future either,” adding, “I hope the community and school join forces to save the village on the brink of extinction and the school on the verge of closure, creating a vibrant Samsan-myeon.”

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