Junggu Residents Hold Rally Condemning Obstruction of Buyeong Sogongdong Administrative Complex Construction

Over 100 Jung-gu Residents Condemn Booyoung for Obstructing Sogong-dong Administrative Complex Construction... Urge to Stop Nitpicking on Lawful and Principled Building Process... "Will Proceed with Groundbreaking Ceremony and Construction as Scheduled for the New Office Building, a Long-cherished Resident Wish"

The residents of Jung-gu, unable to tolerate Buyeong Group's nitpicking any longer, have risen up.

On the 16th at 2 p.m., despite the harsh winter rain, about 100 residents gathered at the planned site for the Sogong-dong Administrative Complex Building in Jung-gu to hold a “Rally Condemning Buyeong Group’s Obstruction of the Sogong-dong Administrative Complex Building Construction.”

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new community center building will be held on the 20th. The long-cherished wish of residents to relocate and rebuild the aging public office building, which is over 50 years old, is about to be fulfilled. The administrative complex will house not only the community center but also resident community facilities, senior centers, and startup support centers, significantly upgrading residents’ convenience and welfare.

Residents had eagerly awaited the birth of this new space, but recently they encountered unexpected obstruction.

Right next to the site of the new building stands a Buyeong building. When the nearby pedestrian passage was closed for construction, Buyeong raised objections, citing decreased sales at their commercial establishments and difficulties in evacuation during disasters. Jung-gu Office revealed that Buyeong deployed employees around the construction site to interfere with preparations and engaged in activities that damaged trust in Jung-gu through some media outlets.

Residents stated, “We cannot tolerate Buyeong’s reckless behavior,” and formed the Sogong-dong Administrative Complex Building Emergency Response Committee (Chairman: Lee Myung-gi) to respond. At the rally organized by the committee that day, the chairman read a statement declaring, “Buyeong must stop their obstruction disguised as legitimate complaints based on their own interests!”

Following this, residents jointly read a resolution for the successful construction of the Sogong-dong Administrative Complex Building, demanding Buyeong “immediately cease demands for securing passageways that disregard pedestrian safety and the deployment of Buyeong employees.”

Finally, two representatives from the emergency committee visited Buyeong, met with five Buyeong representatives including the executive director, delivered the resolution, and held a discussion.

During the meeting, Buyeong claimed that they had requested joint development with Jung-gu for eight years but faced no communication, and only protested due to the sudden commencement of construction. In response, Jung-gu stated, “We have never received any proposal from Buyeong regarding architectural plans aligned with Seoul city planning or joint development.”

Buyeong also expressed willingness to lease their building until the community center is built and proposed a donation through joint development.

This project is being promoted while strictly adhering to procedures according to relevant laws, undergoing thorough design reviews and collecting residents’ opinions. Since October, the district has sent official letters requesting cooperation for the administrative complex construction and has continuously consulted with nearby merchants. Currently, a smooth agreement has been reached regarding passage restrictions.

Jung-gu firmly stated, “There will be no reversal of decisions like flipping a hand, abandoning law, trust, and principles in this significant project with a budget of 39.8 billion won.”

Restricting passage and installing fences are undoubtedly necessary measures for pedestrian safety. Jung-gu announced, “Except for the 10 months during which fences must be installed for cultural heritage excavation and basement construction, fences will not be installed during the remaining 18 months.” Additionally, “After completion, the passage will be provided again as a public pedestrian path.”

The passage restriction area that Buyeong is objecting to is classified as ‘land’ (daeji), not a public road designated as an urban planning facility. Although it is land, it has been customarily used as a pedestrian path due to the arrangement of nearby buildings. In commercial areas, buildings can be constructed without a separate setback from the land boundary, but Jung-gu plans to create a 3-meter-wide public pedestrian path considering Buyeong’s customary use of the passage. The district explained, “This is possible because it is a public office; if it were a private building, Buyeong would have to pay a toll to pass.”

Moreover, the passage restricted by fence installation is not the only pedestrian path leading to the back door of the Buyeong building. The building has a proper main entrance and other passageways. Right next to the restricted area, there is a 5-meter-wide passageway. Even with the restriction, access to the Buyeong building is fully possible via nearby paths, and evacuation is not hindered. They argued that the risk of safety accidents is much greater if passage is not restricted.

The emergency committee declared, “The groundbreaking ceremony and related building procedures will proceed as scheduled.” They also urged Buyeong, “To fulfill the responsibilities society expects from large corporations, we hope you respect the public interest and adhere to laws and principles.”

Attention is focused on how the conflict between Jung-gu residents and Buyeong will be resolved.

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