After 36 Years Since Completion, Myeongil Woosung 1st Phase Reconstruction Passes Safety Inspection but...

Godeok Jugong 9 Complex Rejected,
Recent Series of Suitability Review Failures
"Let's Wait Until Standards Are Relaxed,"
Some Residents Advocate Temporary Suspension

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] The Woosung Apartment in Myeongil-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, which was completed 36 years ago, has conditionally passed the detailed safety inspection for reconstruction. The decision on whether to proceed with reconstruction will be finalized after a public institution's adequacy review, but some voices are calling for a temporary suspension of the project. This is due to recent consecutive reconstruction denials for major apartments in Seoul, such as the nearby Godeok Jugong 9 Complex, prompting calls to delay even the easing of safety inspection regulations.

According to Gangdong District Office on the 24th, Myeongil Woosung Apartment received a D grade (52.85 points), which allows conditional reconstruction, in the detailed safety inspection. This apartment complex, completed in 1986, consists of 572 households in a mid-rise complex. If the D grade passes the final adequacy review by public institutions such as the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology and the National Land Safety Management Institute, reconstruction will be confirmed. Typically, receiving a D grade in the detailed safety inspection leads to preparations for the adequacy review, but some residents argue that reconstruction efforts should be temporarily suspended. This is because many complexes have recently faced setbacks at the adequacy review stage due to the government's strengthened safety inspection regulations.

The industry diagnosis is that the recent reconstruction denial of the adjacent Godeok Jugong 9 Complex has influenced this situation. The Godeok Jugong 9 Complex, completed one year earlier than Woosung, also received a D grade in the detailed safety inspection but was downgraded to a ‘C grade,’ which prohibits reconstruction, during the adequacy review, halting the project. Resident A of Woosung Apartment said, "It would be more realistic to wait until the safety inspection standards are eased before proceeding with the adequacy review."

Recently, such movements have been detected in various reconstruction projects across Seoul. For example, the Sangye Jugong 6 Complex in Nowon-gu recently passed the detailed safety inspection like Myeongil Woosung but has postponed the adequacy review.

However, whether the safety inspection standards will be eased remains uncertain. Although Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is demanding the relaxation of safety inspection standards, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which holds the key, has shown a lukewarm response. A Seoul city official said, "We have requested the Ministry of Land several times, but improvements related to safety inspections have hardly been made."

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