Lee Junggeun of Booyoung: "Yongsan Asea Apartment to Break Ground This Year... Ttukseom Sales Also Planned"[Real Estate AtoZ]

Press briefing held after the group's New Year kick-off ceremony on the 5th

Lee Junggeun, Chairman of Booyoung Group, announced that the conglomerate will fully resume large-scale projects this year that have long been stalled in prime locations in Seoul. For the Yongsan Asea Apartment redevelopment, which has drawn intense interest from housing subscription applicants, the plan is to break ground within this year, while for the Seongsu-dong Ttukseom District mixed-use complex, construction and unit sales will begin simultaneously.

At a press briefing held on the 5th following Booyoung Group's New Year kick-off ceremony, Chairman Lee said, "For the past several years, we have barely been able to carry out any projects due to external factors and other issues, but this year we plan to start projects in earnest in several locations," adding, "We intend to push ahead diligently, responding where appropriate to government policies while keeping an eye on market conditions."

The Yongsan Asea Apartment project is a complex of 10 buildings with a maximum height of 36 floors and 997 units, to be built in the Hangangro 3-ga area of Yongsan-gu. Booyoung Housing purchased the site from the Ministry of National Defense in 2014 and obtained project approval in 2021, then began construction in July 2024, 10 years after the land acquisition. However, construction is currently temporarily suspended due to design changes requested by the U.S. Embassy, which has called for the application of international building standards. Chairman Lee stated his intention to resume the project, saying, "We are also working on site preparations and will break ground within this year."

The Seongsu-dong Ttukseom District is a 10,900-square-meter site adjacent to Seoul Forest with views of the Han River, which Booyoung Group won from the Seoul Metropolitan Government in 2009 for 370 billion won. Although it is considered one of the most coveted plots in the Seongsu-dong area, development has stalled for 17 years since the acquisition. According to the building plan that passed the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Architecture Committee in August 2024, the project will consist of three buildings ranging from eight basement levels to 48 above-ground floors, housing a 5-star tourist hotel with 604 rooms, a residence with 332 units, and a multipurpose performance hall with more than 900 seats. Regarding Ttukseom, Chairman Lee said, "We expect that sales will be possible as soon as construction begins." As for other project sites, he said, "We will review the conditions and then make a decision."

Lee Junggeun, chairman of Booyoung Group, is answering reporters' questions at a press briefing held on the 5th at the Booyoung Taepyeong Building in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Choi Seoyun

On the government's housing policy, he commented, "It is overly focused on short-term measures such as administrative guidance, finance, and taxation," and added, "It would be better to address the issue through supply so that demand can be fundamentally met."

Chairman Lee also offered an assessment of the crisis facing the construction industry as a whole. He said, "The number of construction companies that find it very difficult to remain in normal operation has increased significantly," explaining, "Loss-making conditions have accumulated as companies have taken on low-priced orders and gone through layers of subcontracting and re-subcontracting." He went on to say, "All the more in such times, we must reduce costs while still creating proper products."

At the kick-off ceremony, a childbirth incentive payment event was also held. Explaining the background to setting the incentive at 100 million won, Chairman Lee said, "There was feedback both inside and outside the company that 'it has to be in the hundreds of millions of won range for people to feel emotionally satisfied,' and we judged that around 100 million won is needed for the money to be truly useful." Booyoung is providing the incentive without any conditions related to length of service or any clawback clauses.

Reaffirming his stance that the childbirth incentive will continue until the total fertility rate reaches 1.5, he said, "I have not thought about raising the amount in line with inflation, but I have no intention of cutting it either."

As a way to spread childbirth incentives more broadly, he proposed applying tax exemptions to childbirth congratulatory money given by third parties, saying, "If someone who wants to help gives money, it should be tax-exempt; if both sides are taxed, people will not be able to help."

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