Key Summary
- South Korea’s land minister said Seoul is delaying meetings related to urban public housing complex projects through a procedure that is not required by law.
- The remarks came during an on-site briefing near Yaksu Station in Seoul’s Seongdong District.
- Ruling party lawmakers said pre-planning consultation meetings are being delayed in several Seoul project districts.
- The minister said the government is still in talks with Seoul and that taking back project approval authority would be a last resort.
- He also said he would review the issue of the excess development gains recovery levy from multiple angles.
Main Story
South Korea’s land minister has called on Seoul to move faster on several urban public housing complex projects, saying the city is causing delays through a consultation process that is not required by law.
During an on-site briefing on Tuesday near Yaksu Station in Seoul’s Seongdong District, the minister said the pre-planning consultation body had not been meeting and that the delay was excessive. He said he did not believe the city was intentionally stalling the projects, but asked for a quicker response.
Lawmakers from the ruling party who attended the site raised concerns that meetings before project plan approval were being pushed back in multiple Seoul districts, including the Yaksu Station area. They said the absence of a set schedule from Seoul was slowing the projects.
The consultation body is used to coordinate issues such as density increases and the share of public contribution. It is not a statutory step, but is operated to help project plans move toward approval smoothly.
One Democratic Party lawmaker argued that Seoul was using a non-legal process to hold up progress, saying that the city had grouped six districts together and was effectively blocking the process. He added that the government should not allow the issue to be handled like a political negotiation and said the approval authority should be taken back if the current situation continues.
The minister said he had asked Seoul for a quicker response during working-level talks and that discussions were ongoing. On the option of reclaiming approval authority, he said that doing so through law would be a last resort and that the government would continue trying to resolve the matter through talks with Seoul.
The Yaksu Station urban complex project covers 63,000 square meters near the station in Jung District and is planned to provide at least 1,616 homes. The public land developer LH plans to seek private-sector bidders around the 20th of this month, with construction targeted for 2029 and completion by the end of 2034.
When asked about repeated requests for a meeting from Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, the minister said meeting before practical issues are resolved would only restart the discussion from the beginning. He said the priority was to settle working-level issues first.
He also commented on South Korea’s excess development gains recovery levy, saying the measure was intended to stabilize housing prices but that some see it as an excessive infringement on property rights. He noted that the Constitutional Court has ruled it constitutional, while repeal legislation is pending in the National Assembly, and said the government would review the matter from several angles.
Background
The supplied article says the consultation body is not a legal requirement, but it is used in practice to help coordinate urban public housing complex approvals. No additional background was provided beyond the current dispute and the Yaksu Station project details.
Items Requiring Further Verification
- The claim that Seoul is delaying multiple projects through the pre-planning consultation body is attributed to the minister and ruling party lawmakers, and was not independently substantiated in the text.
- The assertion that Seoul grouped six districts together and is blocking the process was made by a Democratic Party lawmaker and should be independently verified.
- The timeline for the Yaksu Station project, including the expected date for private-sector bidding, the 2029 start target, and the end-2034 completion target, is presented as a plan and may change.
- The minister’s comments on reclaiming approval authority and reviewing the excess development gains recovery levy reflect policy positions rather than finalized decisions.