Government-Seoul City Launch Public Reconstruction TF... "Quickly Discover Leading Cases"

(Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Seoul Metropolitan Government have launched the 'Task Force (TF) for the Activation of Public Maintenance Projects' and held their first meeting on the 10th to successfully advance the public participation high-density reconstruction (public reconstruction) projects.

The TF is co-led by the Ministry of Land's Housing Policy Officer and Seoul City's Housing Planning Officer, with participation from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH), and Korea Appraisal Board.

To initiate the discovery of leading cases, the TF held its first meeting on the 10th to discuss strategies for identifying candidate sites. Moving forward, regular weekly meetings will be held to successfully establish the public reconstruction system.

The Ministry of Land and Seoul City plan to actively support necessary legal revisions, urban regulation relaxations, and administrative procedures to ensure the successful establishment of public reconstruction.

LH, SH, and the Korea Appraisal Board will provide guidance on public reconstruction promotion methods, feasibility analysis, and preliminary architectural forms for specific project sites upon application by the associations.

Details on public reconstruction methods and support measures that associations can inquire about will also be further specified and provided later.

The Ministry of Land expects that when associations choose public reconstruction, public institutions will support financing, project planning, construction quality management, and construction cost verification, thereby accelerating project progress.

LH, SH, and others will transparently manage the projects to ease conflicts within associations and secure project funds based on public credit, which is also expected to reduce related corruption.

Important decisions such as complex design and contractor selection will be made through general meetings to actively reflect residents' opinions. Associations may select private construction companies and use private apartment brands preferred by association members.

Kim Younghan, Housing Policy Officer at the Ministry of Land, emphasized, "Public reconstruction is a system that guarantees the autonomy of associations while utilizing the transparency and expertise of public entities," adding, "We will promptly discover leading cases and steadily promote the expansion of urban housing supply for consumers."