Saenggok Incineration Plant: 82% of Residents Relocated, Busan Says "Scrapping Project Would Take Over 15 More Years"

133 out of 162 Households Relocated, 91 Billion Won in Relocation Expenses Spent

Busan City: “Starting Over from Site Selection to Compensation and Construction for Alternative Locations”

On 'Scrapping Agreement' Claims by Local Lawmaker: “No Official Decision Document Exists”

With over 80% of Saenggok Village residents already relocated, the Busan Metropolitan Government has reiterated its intention to proceed as scheduled with the Saenggok Village Regional Incineration Plant project. The city explained that if the project were scrapped and a new site sought, it would take at least 15 years from site selection to completion of construction.

According to the Busan Metropolitan Government on September 7, the city is pushing forward with the construction of a large-scale waste treatment facility on an 18,000-pyeong (approximately 59,500 square meters) site in Saenggok-dong, Gangseo-gu, which will process 500 tons of municipal waste per day. The total project cost amounts to 315.8 billion won.

The relocation of Saenggok Village residents has also progressed significantly. As of August this year, 133 out of a total of 162 households had relocated, resulting in a relocation rate of approximately 82%. Compensation for land and buildings has been completed, and 91 billion won out of a total relocation budget of 140.4 billion won has been spent. Busan plans to complete the acquisition of the recycling center and wrap up the relocation by 2028.

The city maintains that the relocation of Saenggok Village and the construction of the incineration plant are not separate undertakings but are linked projects being promoted together.

In March 2017, it was decided that Saenggok Village residents would be relocated on the condition that a municipal waste incineration plant be built, following the policy direction of the then mayor. During the same year, a feasibility study and basic plan also considered introducing both an incineration facility and a food waste recycling facility.

Subsequently, in June 2020, the site selection committee finalized Saenggok Village as the location for the incineration facility. This was followed by the signing of the resident relocation agreement in 2022 and the decision on urban management planning in 2023 to continue the project procedures.

However, opposition from residents of Eco Delta City led to public controversy. Busan explained that after the basic plan for construction was announced in September 2025, complaints were raised, leading to a review of alternative sites, and related studies were temporarily suspended.

In response to claims from some quarters that the local National Assembly member had agreed with the former mayor to scrap the Saenggok incineration plant, Busan stated that there has been no formal decision to cancel the project.

A Busan official explained that if the city’s policy were to change, the decision would need to be formally communicated to relevant departments through official documents or memos, but currently, such documents do not exist and even internal review reports have not been formally approved.

In fact, at an administrative audit by the Busan Metropolitan Council's Welfare and Environment Committee in November last year, the then policy chief of the Environmental Affairs Office acknowledged, "Ultimately, I think there is a possibility the project may be scrapped," but also stated that reviews were underway regarding the legal procedures and potential grievances arising from selecting an alternative site.

Busan maintains that such remarks in the city council do not constitute legal grounds to declare the formal cancellation of the project. The city stressed that abandoning the Saenggok Village site and selecting another location would require restarting all legally mandated procedures from the beginning, such as publicly announcing a new waste treatment facility site selection plan and reconstituting the site selection committee.

The city is also concerned that seeking an alternative site would significantly delay the project. Busan anticipates that redoing the feasibility study, site selection, urban management planning, compensation, securing central government funding, design, environmental impact assessment, and construction could push facility completion to sometime after 2042 if current timelines are followed.

Another variable the city raised is the issue of repurchase rights for already relocated residents. If the project is canceled or changed so that the expropriated land is no longer needed for its original purpose, the previous owners could exercise their right to repurchase the land under the Land Compensation Act. Busan argued that this could lead to the possibility of residents returning to Saenggok Village and create new residents who are directly affected by the landfill.

Busan also stated that careful consideration is required for proposed alternative sites, such as land reserved for support facilities for the new Gadeokdo Airport. In the case of airport support facility land, the site is about 250 meters from the Gadeokdo Airport runway, so potential aviation safety issues must be reviewed. As for the Janghang and Yulli Villages, the city expects that securing the land itself may require considerable time in view of possible local opposition and compensation procedures.

Regarding controversies over the sequence of Eco Delta City’s development and the incineration plant site selection, the city stressed that it did not place the incinerator within the new urban area.

Eco Delta City was designated as a waterfront zone in 2012. Busan explained that, in accordance with the obligation to establish waste treatment facilities during new town development, it received 19.2 billion won in installation costs from the project implementers, Korea Water Resources Corporation and Busan Urban Corporation, and provided funding to Gangseo-gu.

The city pointed out that since the decision and public notice for selecting the Saenggok Village waste treatment facility site were finalized in September 2019, ahead of the first public offering for Eco Delta City tenants in October 2021, it cannot be held responsible for not notifying applicants about the incinerator project during the sale process.

Busan announced plans to continue with the Saenggok Village project while preparing environmental and resident convenience measures to alleviate the concerns of Eco Delta City residents. The city is considering installing the latest pollution-prevention facilities and automatic gas emission monitoring systems (TMS), as well as applying emission standards stricter than those required by law.

Additionally, Busan proposed organizing domestic and overseas tours for resident representatives to visit top-tier facilities, making facility operations public, and reflecting resident opinions by establishing living sports and convenience facilities, such as swimming pools and indoor gyms. The city also plans to consider supplying district heating using waste heat generated in the incineration process.

To further improve transportation and living conditions in Eco Delta City, Busan said it will proceed smoothly with the construction of the Gangseo Line tram and the establishment of the Eco Delta City Interchange (IC).

A city official said, "Rather than enforcing the project unconditionally, we will do our utmost to ensure the project continues through sufficient explanation and persuasion of the residents, based on active measures for coexistence."

Busan City Hall.

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