[Exclusive] Redevelopment Project Issues to Be Addressed Directly to the Government... Central and Seoul Local Governments Launch Consultative Body

Prime Minister Han Seongsook Inspects Jangwi-dong Redevelopment Site
Examines Project-by-Project Funding and Delays in Approvals
Pushing for Rapid Progress Toward Annual Goal of 30,000 Housing Starts
Disagreements Between Seoul City and Dis

To address delays in approval processes and policy inconsistencies between government agencies in urban redevelopment projects in the center of Seoul, the central government and the Seoul Metropolitan Government, together with the city’s district offices, are setting up an integrated consultative body. The existing communication channels, which were dispersed among the 25 district offices, will be unified into a single point of contact, allowing local sites to report practical issues directly to the government. This is also expected to accelerate the approval process.

Prime Minister Han Seongsuk (second from the right) is conducting an on-site inspection of the 3rd New Town housing supply site in Goyang Changneung District, Deokyang-gu, Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province, on the 9th of last month, together with Kim Yunduk, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (far right). Photo by Yonhap News.

According to relevant ministries on the 27th, Prime Minister Han Seongsuk will visit the Jangwi-dong redevelopment project site in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, this week. This marks her first visit to a Seoul redevelopment project site since the August 13 housing supply measures. Prime Minister Han previously toured third new towns, including Goyang Changneung last month and Incheon Gyeyang on the 19th of this month. The focus of her inspections has thus shifted from new towns to redevelopment sites within central Seoul.

The decision to establish the consultative body is the result of Prime Minister Han's discussions with the mayors of 21 Seoul districts on ways to expand housing supply, in response to field requests for expedited construction. A total of 97 housing supply projects—comprising private redevelopment, public redevelopment, and urban complex schemes—are planned or underway in these 21 districts, representing 138,000 units.

On-site, major obstacles cited include review delays, excessive regulations, and complicated approval procedures. A representative of a reconstruction association in Seoul stated, “Even when the government announces regulatory easing, implementation guidelines are not delivered to front-line staff, so there is little practical impact.” He added, “Even the integrated review process, introduced to shorten approval periods, was delayed by over a year at a small-scale complex of 300 units.”

Other factors slowing projects include restrictions on relocation loan programs, and excessive demands from local governments for infrastructure improvements. The division of project approval authority among district offices, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and central government creates the risk of policy inconsistency if agencies act independently. Since the Seoul Metropolitan Government retains authority over infrastructure approvals such as parks and roads, even delegating powers to the districts does not allow single agencies to speed up projects on their own. If individual projects proceed without coordination, conflicting directions among different agencies may increase confusion.

The consultative body will be operated in an integrated manner, rather than as separate entities for each of the 25 districts. This will provide a dedicated unified channel for communicating the collective position of district offices to the central government, replacing the current system where each district responded independently. The consultative body will include the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH), and Korea Real Estate Board, among others, to jointly review issues such as financial support, approval procedures, and relocation measures.

The goal of district-level tailored management is to ensure that the housing starts in central Seoul outlined in the August 13 measures are realized in practice. The government aims to maintain annual starts for redevelopment and reconstruction in Seoul at over 22,000 units, the average of the past ten years, and to add another 8,000 units from urban complex and small-scale redevelopment projects, achieving a total of about 30,000 units per year. The government believes it is necessary to manage this goal by dividing it into targets for each district office and project site. For example, if each of the 25 Seoul districts can smoothly advance projects involving around 1,000 units, a significant number of new homes can be secured.

However, disagreements remain over the distribution of authority relating to redevelopment projects. The district mayors recently requested regulatory reforms and a strengthening of district mayors' powers to speed up redevelopment during a meeting with the Prime Minister. The central government and ruling party are pursuing a plan to delegate approval authority for redevelopment and reconstruction projects of 500 units or less to district mayors, but the Seoul Metropolitan Government has expressed its opposition. Resolving the division of powers between the central government and Seoul City will be key to enabling district-level consultative bodies to actually accelerate project timelines.

A government official said, "We want to jointly determine targeted ways to provide financing, streamline approval procedures, and develop relocation plans suited to each redevelopment and reconstruction site." He added, "Relocation in particular can directly affect the rental market, so we plan to closely examine whether the necessary measures and funding are being properly secured and implemented."

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