Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo District, 8 Years Unable to Register Deunggija in Gongdeok: The Secret to Resolving 'Conflict'?... The 'Persistence' That Never Gave Up

Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo District, Personally Intervenes to Coordinate and Persuade for Agreement... Undeclared Status for 8 Years Due to Lawsuit with Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment Landowners Since 2015 Completion Approval... Gongdeok Ja-i's 1,164 Households Valued at About 1.56 Trillion KRW, Expectation of Property Rights Exercise After Registration Completion... Mayor Park: "Resolving Long-standing Wish of Gongdeok Ja-i Residents... Proud to Keep Promise to Residents"

Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo District (fifth from the left), is applauding after signing the agreement for Gongdeok Xi.

“District Mayor, I am a resident of Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment. Please listen to my story.”

In January 2023, after finishing the resident meeting in Gongdeok-dong, two residents ran up to Park Gang-su, the Mayor of Mapo District, as he was getting into his car and stopped it. Mayor Park paused and listened attentively to the residents’ voices. They were pleading for a resolution to the unregistered property issue of Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment in Ahyeon-dong, Mapo-gu, which had been ongoing for eight years.

Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment in Ahyeon 4 District, designated as a redevelopment zone in 2006, completed construction and received completion approval in 2015. However, due to lawsuits between the association and landowners, the transfer notification could not be issued.

The eight-year delay in the transfer notification caused restrictions on financial institution loans and sales for the 1,164 households of Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment, making it difficult to exercise property rights worth approximately 1.56 trillion KRW.

“I will do my best to resolve this.”

After hearing the residents’ story, Mayor Park responded. That response became both a promise to the citizens and a personal commitment for Mayor Park.

Mayor Park judged that the unregistered property issue of Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment should not be dismissed as merely a legal dispute between the association and residents. He immediately had the Mapo District Housing Cooperation Division assess the current status of the unregistered properties, and in the following month, February, the Ahyeon 4 District Housing Redevelopment Project Cooperation Committee was convened.

The Cooperation Committee for resolving conflicts related to the Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment registration was a meeting attended by Mayor Park Gang-su, lawyers, architecture professors, legal experts, landowners, the association, and representatives of the Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment residents.

Through two Cooperation Committee meetings, Mayor Park listened to and coordinated the positions of the association, landowners, and residents. However, due to sharply conflicting financial interests and significant differences in opinions, reaching an agreement was not easy.

“As the district mayor, I can no longer stand by while thousands of Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment residents suffer for eight years. We must put aside past grudges and regrets and find a compromise that benefits everyone.”

Mayor Park did not give up and continued to mediate for an agreement. From August to November, interviews between the parties continued, accelerating the agreement process. Meanwhile, Mayor Park held multiple individual meetings with each party.

Moreover, Mayor Park personally monitored the progress and changes of the agreement daily through the Housing Cooperation Division. This was his effort to find common ground by coordinating the positions and opinions of all parties to reach an agreement.

Ultimately, Mayor Park Gang-su kept his promise to the residents of Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment on November 8.

One resident said, “I am very grateful to Mayor Park Gang-su of Mapo District for resolving a problem that kept me awake at night for eight years.”

After Mayor Park’s mediation and persistent persuasion, on November 8, the Ahyeon 4 District Housing Redevelopment Project Association and the landowners finally drafted the “Agreement for Resolving Gongdeok Ja-i Unregistered Property.” On the day the agreement was signed, Mayor Park Gang-su shook hands and smiled broadly with the association and resident representatives present.

Mayor Park Gang-su said, “I am infinitely happy and moved that the unregistered property issue, which had been a long-standing wish of the 1,164 households of Gongdeok Ja-i for the past eight years, has finally been resolved. Also, it has been the most rewarding experience since my inauguration to keep my promise to listen to the voices of the citizens and to work directly on the ground.”

With this agreement as a turning point, Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment is expected to complete registration within a year after the association’s general meeting approval and transfer notification procedures. Thus, the hardship of the unregistered property issue that had lingered for eight years is expected to end within the term of Mapo District’s 8th elected administration.