Compensation for Third New Towns Rises by 1 Trillion Won... Over 2,700 Delivery Lawsuits Filed

Actual compensation paid reaches 13 trillion won
8.5% increase over estimate
2,031 lawsuits filed over handover in Goyang Changneung

During the process of developing the third phase new towns, the compensation paid out by Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) has increased by over 1 trillion won compared to initial estimates. More than 2,700 lawsuits over the handover of land and buildings have also been filed, raising concerns about delays in the housing supply schedule.

According to data submitted to Assemblyman Kim Jongyang of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on September 29, the total estimated compensation for the five third phase new town districts—Goyang Changneung, Namyangju Wangsuk, Bucheon Daejang, Incheon Gyeyang, and Hanam Gyosan—was 12.145 trillion won. However, the actual compensation paid reached 13.1726 trillion won, which is 1.0276 trillion won (8.5%) higher than the estimate.

View of Goyang Changneung District, the third phase new town, from Bukhansan Mountain. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The largest increase in compensation was seen in Hanam Gyosan. The estimated compensation was 2.9279 trillion won, but the actual amount paid out was 3.2684 trillion won, representing an increase of 340.5 billion won (11.6%). Namyangju Wangsuk also saw an additional 300.4 billion won (8.4%) over the estimated amount of 3.5911 trillion won, with a total expenditure of 3.8915 trillion won. In Goyang Changneung, the compensation amount increased by 175 billion won (5.1%), from 3.4269 trillion won to 3.6019 trillion won.

There have been as many as 2,718 lawsuits filed for the handover of land and buildings during the relocation and demolition process. Such lawsuits are filed by LH to secure legal grounds for compulsory execution in cases where land or buildings are not handed over to the project implementer even after the compensation procedure has been completed. Of these, 2,031 cases—or 74.7% of the total—were filed in Goyang Changneung alone. This was followed by 419 in Hanam Gyosan, 239 in Namyangju Wangsuk, 26 in Incheon Gyeyang, and 3 in Bucheon Daejang.

The main issue is that prolonged legal disputes can cause delays in the housing construction schedule. Even after land compensation is completed, if the land and buildings are not handed over to LH, it becomes difficult to proceed to the next steps such as demolition. In fact, move-in schedules for some third phase new towns have already been pushed back by more than two years compared to the initial plans. For example, the move-in schedule for Namyangju Wangsuk 2 has been postponed from 2026 to February 2029, and for Hanam Gyosan from 2027 to June 2029.

Assemblyman Kim stated, "While the government is calling for an all-out push, schedules for housing supply are coming to a standstill in many areas because preparations for compensation and relocation are lacking. The government must design fair compensation and relocation measures in detail before making statements, and needs to resolve the bottlenecks it has created."

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