Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon's Church Suspected of 'Albakgi' in Redevelopment Candidate Site... Attempt to Purchase Building in Jangwi 8 District

Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon of Sarang Jeil Church is leaving after the sentencing trial held on the afternoon of the 15th of last month at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-dong.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

It has been confirmed that Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon’s Sarang Jeil Church, located in Jangwi 10 District, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, is attempting to purchase a sauna building within Jangwi 8 District. Previously, Sarang Jeil Church had conflicts with the Jangwi 10 District redevelopment association over compensation payments, leading residents of Jangwi 8 District to strongly oppose the move, fearing that the church may demand enormous compensation in the future.

According to the redevelopment industry on the 24th, Sarang Jeil Church applied for land transaction permission from Seongbuk-gu Office on the 16th for a sauna building and parking lot within Jangwi 8 District. The district office must notify the applicant of approval or rejection within 15 days of receiving the application.

Jangwi 8 District was designated as a land transaction permission zone starting March 30, 2021, immediately after being selected as a public redevelopment candidate site. The land transaction permission system requires prior approval from the mayor, county governor, or district office head of the jurisdiction before buying or selling land exceeding a certain area.

Upon news of the permission application, residents of Jangwi 8 District expressed concerns. Sarang Jeil Church had experienced conflicts with the Jangwi 10 District redevelopment association over demolition compensation, and a similar situation could recur within Jangwi 8 District.

At that time, the Jangwi 10 District association intended to pay about 8.2 billion KRW and religious site compensation based on the Seoul Land Expropriation Committee’s appraisal, but Sarang Jeil Church rejected this and demanded 56.3 billion KRW. Although the association filed an eviction lawsuit and won all cases, the church ultimately refused to comply.

Consequently, the association tried to proceed with redevelopment excluding the Sarang Jeil Church area, but since the church is located in the middle of the 10 District and the permitting process had to be restarted, causing project delays, the general meeting in September last year passed a resolution to pay 50 billion KRW in compensation (including 8.5 billion KRW in escrow). Subsequently, a relocation agreement was drafted, but Sarang Jeil Church demanded two additional apartments as relocation conditions in April, and the conflict remains unresolved.

Currently, the Jangwi 8 District Redevelopment Preparation Committee is collecting petitions from residents of Jangwi-dong, including Jangwi 8 District. Since the afternoon of the 21st, they have already received over 2,500 signatures.

The commercial site the church is trying to acquire is designated as part of the Jangwi Redevelopment Promotion District, where an urban planning road facility project is planned. The preparation committee believes that if the church engages in land hoarding and the urban planning road is not opened, it will affect not only Jangwi 8 District but also adjacent districts’ project plans. Furthermore, due to concerns that the land transaction could delay the public redevelopment project in Jangwi 8 District and increase additional costs, it is judged that this could harm residents’ healthy living environment protection.