Construction of Sejong 'Joint Campus' housing Seoul National University and KDI halted again

Conflict Over Construction Costs Between Client and Contractor
Daebo Construction "Expecting 30 Billion KRW Loss, Difficult to Proceed with Construction"

Construction of the Sejong ‘Joint Campus,’ housing five universities including Seoul National University and the Korea Development Institute (KDI), has once again halted due to construction cost issues.

According to industry sources on the 6th, construction work on the Joint Campus (Section 18) located in Jiphyeon-dong, Sejong City’s Happy City (4-2 Living Zone) was suspended starting the previous day. This construction had also been paused for 10 days (from the 17th to the 26th) last October before resuming.

Construction work section 18 of the Jiphyeon-dong (4-2 Living Zone) Joint Campus in Sejong City Happy City.

The Sejong Joint Campus project involves developing a total of nine buildings on a 58,111.43㎡ site, including five university residence buildings, a Bio Support Center, an Academic and Cultural Support Center, a Student Union Building, a Gymnasium, and an Integrated Parking Lot. In July 2022, the client, Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), signed a construction contract with Daebo Construction. Five universities?Seoul National University, KDI School of Public Policy and Management, Chungnam National University, Chungbuk National University, and Hanbat National University?are scheduled to move into this campus, with the opening planned for September this year. Additionally, Gongju National University and Chungnam National University will sequentially occupy the sale-type campus.

The construction was halted due to increased burdens from rising raw material and labor costs. Daebo Construction has been requesting LH to adjust the contract amount to facilitate smooth progress of the construction project. However, according to Daebo Construction, there has been little progress in negotiations so far. Although Daebo Construction has been investing additional construction costs on its own to shorten the schedule in response to LH’s partial early completion requests, large-scale losses have occurred due to disruptions in ready-mix concrete supply, rising raw material and labor costs, and the Cargo Solidarity Union strike.

A representative from Daebo Construction stated, “We have been managing construction costs on our own, even taking out loans, but after Taeyoung Construction’s workout, it has become difficult to secure financing from financial institutions, making it impossible to continue the construction. The construction cost for this project is about 75 billion KRW, and losses exceeding 30 billion KRW are expected.”

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