Sangjin Shin’s Side: “Ministry of Land Responsible for Bundang Reconstruction Confusion... Stop Suspicions of Government Election Interference”

Sangjin Shin’s Campaign Raises Allegations of Government Election Interference
"Is the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Acting as Kim Byungwook’s Campaign?"
Sharp Criticism Directed at the Ministry and Candidate Kim Byungwook
"Distorting the Bundang Reconstruction Issue"
Claims of Government Intervention in the Reconstruction Controversy
Bundang Reconstruction Dispute Intensifies
Shin’s Side Accuses the Ministry of Shifting Responsibility

The election campaign committee for Sangjin Shin, the People Power Party candidate for Mayor of Seongnam, strongly criticized the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Kim Byungwook, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate, over the controversy regarding the calculation of floor area ratios (FAR) for the Bundang reconstruction project, raising suspicions of government intervention in the election.

Sangjin Shin, Mayor Candidate of Seongnam.

On June 1, the spokespersons for Sangjin Shin’s campaign released a statement, saying, “The recent announcement by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, as well as candidate Kim Byungwook’s claims based on it, amount to an election tactic that distorts the facts,” and argued, “The ministry must immediately cease actions that create suspicions of election interference.”

The campaign committee pointed to the ministry’s ambiguous guidelines as the root cause of the current controversy. According to the committee, while preparing guidelines last year for the special maintenance plan for the first-phase new towns, the ministry failed to clearly define the standards for calculating the redevelopment FAR, thereby causing confusion among local governments and project operators.

Furthermore, the committee explained that at a meeting held in March with the ministry and related agencies, the ministry acknowledged the ambiguity, stating, “There seems to be some confusion in the definition of terms,” and announced that it would gather feedback from local governments and clarify its official position.

The committee stated that after Seongnam City recognized these issues, it began reviewing its method for calculating public contribution fees in order to minimize the financial burden on citizens and secure the business viability of the reconstruction project. The committee also emphasized that on April 6, the results of this review were reported internally, and on April 14, candidate Sangjin Shin publicly declared at a press conference, “To reduce the burden on residents, we will promptly recalculate the FAR in the way most advantageous to them.”

In particular, the campaign committee stated, “Seongnam City was aware of the problems and had been preparing improvements well before the ministry sent an official notice on May 19,” and argued, “Nevertheless, the ministry has highlighted the content of the notice just ahead of the election, shaping public opinion as if Seongnam City was at fault.”

The committee went on to say, “This can be seen as an attempt to cover up the ministry’s administrative responsibility and create a political environment favorable to a specific candidate,” and further criticized, “Candidate Kim Byungwook is also using this for election purposes, thereby damaging the reputation of Sangjin Shin’s administration and Seongnam City officials.”

Through the statement, the committee demanded the following: ▲ an apology to residents and an end to election interference from both the ministry and candidate Kim Byungwook; ▲ disclosure of how the ministry’s official notice was leaked; ▲ corrections and apologies from media outlets that reported as if only Seongnam City was at fault; ▲ an apology from candidate Kim Byungwook and his withdrawal from the race.

Meanwhile, the controversy over the calculation of FAR and public contribution fees surrounding the Bundang reconstruction project is directly linked to the project’s viability and the issue of residents’ cost burden, and is emerging as one of the key issues in the Seongnam mayoral election ahead of the June 3 local elections.

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