Refusal to Submit Materials Citing 'Restriction on External Disclosure' in Legislative Audit... Residents File Consecutive Complaints Over Transmission Tower Conflict
[Asia Economy Reporters Baek Kyunghwan and Kim Dongpyo] It has been revealed that 'Seongnam's Deul,' the urban development project operator of Daejang-dong in Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province, and the asset management company (AMC) 'Hwacheon Daeyu' caused friction in various places by not cooperating with the audit conducted by the Seongnam City Council in 2018. Hwacheon Daeyu also engaged in a series of lawsuits with prospective apartment residents and was fined for violating the Environmental Impact Assessment Act, causing various disturbances during the project process.
According to the Seongnam City Council on the 28th, during the administrative audit conducted in October 2018 targeting Seongnam City and Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, Hwacheon Daeyu refused the council's request to submit project-related documents such as the environmental impact assessment implementation order.
At that time, Seongnam City refused to submit the documents on the grounds that "a request for restriction on external disclosure was received." A Seongnam City official who attended the audit stated, "Seongnam's Deul has a business agreement with the Urban Development Corporation," and added, "There are no issues except for project permits or complaints."
Some council members immediately opposed, saying, "This is like telling us not to conduct the audit." However, the documents related to the Daejang-dong development profits submitted by Seongnam Urban Development the next day did not include detailed project contents such as the calculation process of confirmed profits. An opposition party member who attended the site said, "Additional materials were not disclosed any further due to business confidentiality," and "Some council members asked whether there were any personnel related to the corporation among landowners and owners, but this was not answered accurately either."
Seongnam's Deul also experienced serious friction with prospective residents. In the early stages of the Daejang-dong Pangyo First Hill Prugio development, Seongnam's Deul passed the 2018 environmental impact assessment with a plan to confirm underground installation of the southern transmission line and to promote the northern transmission line as a separate project, including preliminary measures such as purchasing land for 'cable heads,' which are additional facilities required for underground transmission towers.
However, even after three years, the undergrounding issue of the transmission towers has not been resolved. Seongnam's Deul claims to have taken measures such as increasing the distance from the transmission towers. During this process, Seongnam's Deul filed three charges against Park, a resident representative who raised complaints about the undergrounding of transmission towers, including obstruction of official duties, attempted coercion, and false accusation. Although the charges were dismissed, Seongnam's Deul immediately appealed. A resident of the complex, Mr. A, said, "The complex is less than 100 meters away, so there are significant health concerns due to electromagnetic waves."
Following the successive lawsuits against residents, the Seongnam City Council also stepped in. Lee Gi-in, a Seongnam City council member (People Power Party), said, "They called them citizens when selling, but when it became inconvenient for them, they filed lawsuits against the residents and appealed even after the charges were dismissed," and criticized, "They are not a Special Purpose Company (SPC) but a special purpose gangster."
Jeong Yoon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, also pointed out the "lack of leadership (in project management)" of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, the largest shareholder of Seongnam's Deul. He said, "Seongnam's Deul has made so much profit so far," and urged, "Before the SPC is dissolved and settled, please fulfill corporate social responsibility by bearing at least half of the costs for undergrounding the transmission towers."
The Seongnam City Council did not entirely refrain from putting a brake on Hwacheon Daeyu’s overall administrative handling, which is effectively leading the project. During the audit conducted in December last year, one council member pointed out, "Hwacheon Daeyu actually holds only 1%," and "Although it holds only 1% of the total shares, Hwacheon Daeyu has all the authority over the Daejang-dong development."
There were also demands for Seongnam City and Seongnam Urban Development Corporation to establish a process to verify the project's feasibility. One council member requested, "Seongnam's Deul is shrouded in secrecy, so at least the head of the development corporation should step in to establish minimum safeguards," and another council member stated, "An employee of the Urban Development Corporation should be directly involved in the role of the company Hwacheon Daeyu."
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