[Reporter’s Notebook] Starfield Suwon Traffic Measures, Is This Why They Were Kept Confidential?

Request for Disclosure of Traffic Impact Assessment Report for Starfield Suwon
Suwon Special City "Concern Over Significant Harm to Corporate Interests"
Traffic Hell One Month After Shopping Mall Opening... Was the Review Properly Conducted?

In June of last year, when the construction of Shinsegae Group's complex shopping mall 'Starfield Suwon' was in full swing, the reporter requested Suwon Special City to disclose the traffic impact assessment report containing solutions to the area's traffic problems. Since the area around Suseong-ro in Jangan-gu, Suwon City, where Starfield was built, has long been notorious for traffic congestion, it was natural to check what measures were in place.

However, Suwon City maintained a policy of non-disclosure regarding this traffic impact assessment report. The basis was Article 9, Paragraph 1, Item 7 of the Information Disclosure Act. Because the project was ongoing, there was concern that disclosing the report would significantly harm the interests of the relevant corporation or organization. Suwon City overlooked an important point. The legislative intent of the Information Disclosure Act, cited as the basis for non-disclosure, is to fulfill the public's right to know. Therefore, the Supreme Court, in a 2020 ruling, ordered that whether the interests of corporations or organizations are legitimate should be strictly judged in light of the legislative intent of the Information Disclosure Act, namely the public's right to know.

At that time, Suwon City could not provide a clear answer when the reporter asked whether they had considered the disclosure of the Starfield Suwon traffic impact assessment report in accordance with the legislative intent of the Information Disclosure Act as presented by the Supreme Court. When asked if corporate interests were considered more important than the public's right to know, they only repeated that the project was ongoing and therefore could not be disclosed. Even after being shown the court ruling, the response was, "How could we possibly know the (Supreme Court) ruling?" and the reporter gave up. Suwon City refused to disclose the traffic impact assessment report until the end.

Shinsegae Property, which promoted the opening of Starfield Suwon, was also puzzled. "We never set the premise that the traffic impact assessment report we submitted would be confidential, and wasn't it something that any citizen could see?" However, Shinsegae Property also responded that since the traffic impact assessment report is considered corporate confidential information, direct disclosure is difficult and that the reporter should request it from Suwon City. Administrative agencies have an obligation to respond to public information disclosure requests, but private companies do not have a disclosure obligation.

It has been a month since Starfield Suwon opened. As feared, the area is experiencing severe traffic congestion. According to Suwon City, traffic volume in the area increased by 15% during weekday rush hours and by 10% on weekends after the opening of Starfield Suwon. However, the level of congestion the reporter personally experienced far exceeded these figures. It took more than five minutes just to pass 400 meters along the boundary of Starfield during rush hour. Converted to speed, this corresponds to about 4 km/h, which is the pace of an adult walking. At this point, one can roughly guess why Suwon City was reluctant to disclose the traffic impact assessment report. There is also doubt as to whether the traffic impact assessment was properly reviewed.

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