Seoul City Investigates Delayed Dissolution and Liquidation of Cooperatives... 22 People Referred for Investigation

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 23rd that it conducted a comprehensive survey over two months from July to September to minimize the damage to union members caused by redevelopment and reconstruction maintenance project unions that have not dissolved or liquidated for a long time.

If the dissolution or liquidation of a union is delayed, various expenses for union operations are consumed accordingly, and the liquidation funds to be distributed to union members decrease, causing financial damage to the members. The survey results showed that the average annual salary of the representative liquidators of dissolved unions was 48 million KRW, with some cases reaching up to 100 million KRW.

Despite the completion of the relocation notice following the completion of the maintenance projects, a total of 167 unions have yet to dissolve or liquidate. The main reasons for the delays were ▲ ongoing lawsuits (79 unions) ▲ disputes with construction companies (6 unions) ▲ unknown whereabouts of union heads or liquidators (42 unions) ▲ creditor-debtor relationships (4 unions) ▲ normal progress such as handling residual tasks (36 unions).

The city referred 22 liquidators suspected of violating the obligations of regular information disclosure and related document retention during the liquidation process to investigation according to penalty regulations, and requested autonomous districts to cancel the union establishment approval for 8 unions that failed to hold a dissolution general meeting within one year of the relocation notice without justifiable reasons, in accordance with laws and regulations.

Additionally, depending on the case, the city recommended that district offices appoint professional union managers or consider civil procedures such as dismissal requests for liquidators judged to have significantly violated their duties.

Furthermore, the city plans to continuously supervise and manage by forming a joint inspection team including external experts from the city and districts in September and October to conduct on-site inspections of four maintenance project unions with complaints related to dissolution or liquidation, ensuring that the dissolution and liquidation procedures are promptly carried out.

Han Byung-yong, Director of the Seoul Housing Policy Office, said, “We expect this comprehensive survey to serve as an opportunity to make the dissolution and liquidation work of maintenance project unions transparent and fair, and to significantly reduce delayed unions,” adding, “We will continue to strictly and substantively manage union operations through ongoing field inspections and system improvements.”

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