Agreement Must Be Signed Within the Year, but Disagreements Over Public Contributions
Business Owner's "Donation of 40,000 Pyeong Land" Statement Denied as "Clear Falsehood" by Yongin City
A large-scale logistics terminal project being promoted through a private investment project method in the Baekam-myeon area of Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do is facing difficulties. With just over two months left until the deadline for the implementation agreement, proper consultations between Yongin City and the project operator, Jisan Logistics, have not been conducted, raising concerns about the possible cancellation of the project.
According to Yongin City and Jisan Logistics on the 7th, the implementation agreement for the 'Yongin Logistics Terminal' project, promoted by Jisan Logistics, has shown no significant progress even with just two months remaining before the scheduled signing deadline at the end of the year.
This project is a private investment project on a 199,910㎡ site in Baekbong-ri 611 area, Baekam-myeon, Cheoin-gu, involving an investment of 17.829 billion KRW to build a logistics center with a total floor area of 435,693㎡.
Originally, this project was promoted by Company J, but Jisan Logistics acquired the site and project rights through an auction in 2015 and has been advancing the project since then. Subsequently, Jisan Logistics decided to expand the project area, purchasing national land at a low price and acquiring adjacent private land, resulting in multiple changes to the project plan.
The city approved the 'Basic and Implementation Plan Change and Construction Implementation Change Plan for Private Investment Projects' to the project operator in September 2017 on the condition that an implementation agreement be signed within one year after the approval of the implementation plan. However, due to changes in development plans, district unit plans, and various disputes including lawsuits causing delays, negotiations for signing the implementation agreement between the city and the operator only began in February 2021.
The problem is that even with less than two months remaining until the expiration of the agreement signing deadline at the end of December, both parties have still not reached an agreement.
The Yongin City side stated, "During the 11 rounds of negotiations, the city provided various administrative conveniences such as land use changes according to the Private Investment Act, sale of national land, and land expropriation decisions, but the project operator has not submitted supplementary materials necessary for drafting the implementation agreement." The city added, "The public contribution plan proposed after consulting with expert institutions is also not being accepted by the project operator."
Meanwhile, recently, tensions between the two sides have escalated following remarks made by Chairman H of Jisan Logistics. According to Yongin City, at the Yongin Mayor's Cup Gateball Tournament held at Yongin Mir Stadium, Chairman H made an unfounded statement claiming that he had intended to 'donate' 40,000 pyeong to Yongin City for the construction of a gateball court, but the city rejected it.
A Yongin City official said, "It has been confirmed that the offer to provide land for the gateball court was never communicated to the city through any channel," and added, "Chairman H's claim is an absurd lie." The city also stated that it is considering holding him accountable for the statement.
In response, a Jisan Logistics official said, "It is true that the company has never made such a proposal to the city regarding the Yongin Logistics Terminal project," but declined to confirm the authenticity of Chairman H's personal remarks.
At the time of the last approval for the project plan change, the city stipulated the condition that "if the implementation agreement containing public contribution details is not signed by the end of 2023, the project period extension will no longer be allowed," and plans to take appropriate measures once the deadline arrives.
However, it is still uncertain whether the project operator designation will be automatically canceled if the implementation agreement signing deadline is missed. Generally, in private investment projects, the project operator is designated after the implementation agreement is signed, but in the case of the Yongin Logistics Terminal, the operator designation was made first. A Yongin City official said, "We inquired with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the competent authority, but since there is no precedent, they stated that a thorough legal review is necessary," and added, "The city is also conducting multifaceted legal reviews."
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