Jongno-gu Seochon to Be Developed as a National Representative Commercial Area

Seochon Alleyway Scenery

Selected in Seoul City Contest, Up to 1.5 Billion KRW Invested to Strengthen Local Brand Commercial Districts in Three Phases by 2025

Creating Specialized Streets Reflecting Seochon’s Characteristics, Building Communities, Discovering New Content, Improving Pedestrian Environment, etc.

Jongno-gu (District Mayor Jeong Munheon) has been finally selected for the Seoul City local brand commercial district strengthening project contest, and plans to invest up to 1.5 billion KRW by 2025 to enhance the sustainability of the Seochon commercial district and develop the area into an attractive tourist destination.

This project aims to discover new content through fostering creative small business brands and collaboration processes, build commercial district awareness, and enhance autonomous commercial district management capabilities.

The selected area, Seochon, means “the village located west of Gyeongbokgung Palace” and includes the areas around Jahamun-ro and Ogin-gil.

It is home to Baehwa Women’s University, Cheongwadae Sarangchae, Chebu-dong, and Hong Jongmun House alley commercial districts, with various shops targeting diverse demographics located along the alleys, making it very convenient for pedestrian visits. Additionally, it is densely populated with artists, various communities, and complex cultural spaces, indicating great potential.

Jongno-gu plans to focus on strengthening the Seochon commercial district with regional characteristics over the next three years in three phases, dedicating efforts to effective projects.

In the first phase, the ‘Vision Establishment Phase,’ a private-led autonomous governance will be formed to establish consultation and decision-making systems for project promotion and to set the commercial district vision and basic plan. The second phase, ‘Commercial District Capacity Building Phase,’ will focus on discovering new content, collaboration among local brands, and pedestrian environment improvement projects. The third phase, ‘Ecosystem Creation Phase,’ will establish a model for the strengthened commercial district and build human networks.

District Mayor Jeong Munheon stated, “To ensure efficient implementation, we will create a commercial district council composed of district officials, residents, merchants, and experts, and also establish a commercial district strengthening organization. We aim to develop commercial districts that leverage the unique strengths of Seochon and other areas within the district and revitalize the local economy.”

Seongbuk-gu Issues 8 Billion KRW Worth of ‘Seongbuk Love Gift Certificates’

Second Issuance of Seongbuk Love Gift Certificates Worth 8 Billion KRW on the 23rd at 10 AM

Contributing to Increased Sales for Small Businesses by Alleviating Consumer Household Burdens and Promoting Consumption

Seongbuk-gu (District Mayor Lee Seungro) will issue the second round of ‘Seongbuk Love Gift Certificates’ worth 8 billion KRW this month to promote mutual growth between small business owners and consumers. The sale will start at 10 AM on March 23, with a total issuance planned for 61 billion KRW throughout the year. The first issuance on January 19 sold out on the same day, and the second issuance is also expected to sell out early due to high demand.

Seongbuk Love Gift Certificates have played a vital role in revitalizing the local economy since 2020 during the height of COVID-19. They have helped restore consumer sentiment and acted as a catalyst for the frozen local commercial districts, consistently selling out shortly after issuance and maintaining steady popularity.

In this second issuance, consumers can purchase the gift certificates at a 7% discount off the face value, up to a maximum of 500,000 KRW per person.

The gift certificates can be easily purchased by installing any of five payment apps: ▲Seoul Pay+ ▲Moneytree ▲T-money Pay ▲Shinhan SOL, etc. The holding limit is 1.5 million KRW, and they can be used at affiliated Seongbuk Love Gift Certificate merchants within Seongbuk-gu.

District Mayor Lee Seungro said, “We issued the second round of Seongbuk Love Gift Certificates this year to protect small businesses amid ongoing economic downturns and to ease household burdens. We hope the local commercial districts will regain vitality along with the warm spring atmosphere.”

Yangcheon-gu Requests Seoul City to Lift Land Transaction Permission Zone Designation for Mokdong New Town Apartments

Actively Requests Lifting Due to Decreased Land Transactions and Price Drops

Excessive Regulations from Permission Zone Designation Cause Residents’ Private Property Rights Complaints

Yangcheon-gu (District Mayor Lee Gijae) announced that it has requested Seoul City to actively consider lifting the land transaction permission zone designation for Mokdong New Town Apartments 1 to 14 complexes, whose permission period is about to expire.

Designated as a land transaction permission zone on April 27, 2021, Mokdong New Town Apartments 1 to 14 cover 2,282,130㎡ in the Mokdong and Sinjeong-dong areas, accounting for 85% of the total land transaction permission zone area in Yangcheon-gu. The designation was initially made in April 2021 and extended once, with expiration scheduled for April 26.

A district official explained, “Land transaction permission zones target areas with concerns about speculative land transactions and rapid land price increases. Since Mokdong New Town Apartments currently show a gradual stabilization, they no longer meet the designation criteria, making the designation ineffective.”

In fact, analysis of transaction data through real estate market brokerage monitoring and real estate transaction management systems shows that real estate transactions in Mokdong New Town Apartments plummeted to 12% of pre-designation levels (707 cases in 2020 vs. 86 cases in 2022), and transaction prices dropped by up to 660 million KRW.

Additionally, the district emphasized in the opinion letter that excessive regulations from the land transaction permission zone designation have caused difficulties in exercising residents’ private property rights, leading to a flood of complaints requesting the lifting of the land transaction permission zone designation to both Seoul City and Yangcheon-gu.

Meanwhile, the land transaction permission system requires prior approval from the mayor, county governor, or district mayor when trading land above a certain area. It is a measure to prevent speculation in areas with potential real estate overheating, such as public redevelopment projects, and permits sales only for actual residence purposes for two years.

Yangcheon-gu District Mayor Lee Gijae stated, “Given the current rapid contraction of the real estate market due to interest rate instability and the decrease in transaction volume, the land transaction permission zone designation should be lifted to protect residents’ property rights.”

Seodaemun-gu Operates Counseling Office to Prevent Conflicts Among Apartment Residents

Provides One-on-One Consultations on Legal Interpretations, Construction Bidding, Long-Term Repair Plans, Accounting, etc.

Also Conducts Committee Operation Training for Apartment Election Committee Members

Seodaemun-gu (District Mayor Lee Seongheon) announced on the 21st that it will operate a ‘Multi-family Housing Civil Complaint Counseling Office’ every second and fourth Tuesday of the month until December this year to prevent disputes among neighbors in multi-family housing and improve residents’ housing satisfaction.

Related experts provide one-on-one customized consultation services on ▲interpretation of laws related to multi-family housing ▲construction and service bidding and contracts ▲long-term repair plans ▲provision funds and management fee accounting, etc.

To this end, the district appointed Kim Taewon, Secretary-General of the Korea Housing Managers Association Seoul Chapter, and Lee Ginam, Director of the Future Housing Culture Research Institute, as professional counselors.

Consultations are held from 2 PM to 5 PM on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at the district office main building, 4th floor, Seminar Room 2.

Residents wishing to receive counseling can apply in advance to the Housing Management Team of the district office.

District Mayor Lee Seongheon said, “We operate the counseling office to resolve conflicts among residents early without cost, aiming to establish a transparent and proper multi-family housing management culture.”

As part of preventing multi-family housing complaints, Seodaemun-gu plans to conduct committee operation training for members of the multi-family housing election committee on the 28th of this month.