Mayor Park Won-soon and Seongdong District Chief Jung Won-oh Share the Same Thoughts on GBC Development Profits?

Jung Won-oh, Seongdong District Mayor, Agrees on Facebook on the 8th with Park Won-soon's Proposal for "Metropolitan Expansion of Gangnam Area Development Profits"... Advocated for Public Contribution System Improvement Since 2015, Led TF Activities of 13 Seoul Districts

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] On the 6th, interest is rising regarding the public contribution fund of 1.7491 trillion won generated from the approval of the groundbreaking of Hyundai Motor Global Business Center (GBC) in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Meanwhile, on the 8th, Jung Won-oh, the mayor of Seongdong-gu, expressed agreement through his Facebook, stating, “I share the opinion that the use of the public contribution fund proposed by Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon should be expanded to the entire city of Seoul.”

The public contribution fund is a burden paid by developers to compensate for damages such as traffic and noise experienced by local residents due to large-scale development projects. Under current law, the scope of utilization of the public contribution fund is limited to the respective autonomous district.

In 2015, Mayor Jung argued that compared to Gangnam, which grew through various privileges and support in the 1960s and 70s, the Gangbuk area was left out of regional development due to development restrictions, causing imbalance, and insisted that the public contribution fund from Gangnam should be used for balanced development between Gangnam and Gangbuk.

Accordingly, Mayor Jung led a task force named “Public Contribution System Improvement T/F for Balanced Development between Gangnam and Gangbuk,” consisting of 13 autonomous districts of Seoul including Jongno-gu, Eunpyeong-gu, and Seodaemun-gu, continuously proposing amendments to the Enforcement Decree of the National Land Planning Act along with issuing statements and conducting public opinion surveys.

Mayor Jung said, “In the 2015 public opinion survey, 83% of Seoul citizens responded that the public contribution fund should be primarily used in Gangnam-gu, but the remainder should be utilized throughout Seoul,” adding, “Since then, we have continuously proposed related legal amendments to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, but it has remained stagnant until Mayor Park emphasized it again.”

He also mentioned that 49.3% of Gangnam residents responded in the survey that it is desirable to use the public contribution fund throughout Seoul, emphasizing that citizens have a high awareness of balanced development.

Mayor Jung stated, “Now, when the value of coexistence is more important than ever, I hope the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will make a decisive improvement of the system as proposed by Mayor Park Won-soon.”