Seoul City: "Urban Complex Project Delays Stem from Loss of Trust in LH"... Rebuts Land Ministry

Blame game over delays to urban public housing complex project
Seoul Metropolitan Government: “Ministry pushed ahead unilaterally without prior consultation”

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon presides over a meeting on the “Seoul Without Loneliness Season 2” initiative at Seoul City Hall on the 30th of last month. Yonhap News Agency

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport blamed the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s operation of a pre-planning consultative body for delays in the urban public housing complex project in central Seoul. The city countered that the delays were due to “a loss of trust in the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and the Ministry’s unilateral push to move the project forward.”

In a statement on November 11, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said, “The fundamental causes of delays in the urban public housing complex project are residents’ loss of trust in LH and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s unilateral push to move the project forward without prior consultation with the city.”

The city said, “Residents distrusted LH following incidents including the 2021 case of LH employees speculating in land ahead of development announcements, making it difficult to secure residents’ consent and delaying district designation.” It added, “The minister of land, infrastructure and transport extended the sunset deadline twice.”

The city continued, “Of the 55 candidate sites selected by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in 2021 and 2022, 21 were withdrawn due to residents’ opposition and other reasons, while 34 are currently moving forward. The statutory sunset deadline was first extended from September 2024 to December 2026 through an amendment to the Special Act on Public Housing, and then extended again to December 2029.”

Earlier that day, at a briefing on the urban complex project near Yaksu Station, held at the observation deck of Eungbong Neighborhood Park in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Hong Jiseon criticized the Seoul Metropolitan Government, saying, “The pre-planning consultative body is not a procedure stipulated by law, but the city is pursuing it excessively.” He added, “I don’t think the city is doing this deliberately, but I hope it will prevent delays and help move the project forward.”

The urban public housing complex project is a way to supply housing in aging urban areas where it is difficult to carry out redevelopment led by the private sector, with the public sector participating as the project implementer. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Seoul Metropolitan Government had coordinated project plans in advance through a pre-planning consultative body, but it has not met since a meeting scheduled for June was canceled by the city.

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Hong Jiseon listens to a briefing on the Yaksu Station Public Urban Complex project site at the observatory in Eungbong Neighborhood Park in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, on the 11th, alongside Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers Park Seongjun and Jeon Hyunhee, Seongdong District Mayor Yu Bohwa, and others. Yonhap News

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said, “The selection of candidate sites and the designation of preliminary and complex project zones fall under the authority of the minister of land, infrastructure and transport, and securing residents’ consent and designating complex project zones were already delayed before the pre-planning consultative body was formed.” It added, “The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is ignoring this history and shifting responsibility for project delays and extensions of the sunset deadline onto the Seoul Metropolitan Government.”

The city emphasized, “The pre-planning consultative body meeting was delayed because the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport asked, without prior consultation with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, to expand the scope of the floor area ratio relaxation from 1.2 times to 1.4 times and incorporate it into the project plan. This made it necessary to further assess the impact on residents’ living environment.”

The Seoul Metropolitan Government added, “We will closely review the impact of the additional floor area ratio relaxation on residents’ living environment and convene the pre-planning consultative body as soon as possible to ensure the project proceeds without disruption.”

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