Seongheon Lee, Seodaemun-gu Mayor, "Efforts to Expedite Redevelopment and Reconstruction... Publication of White Paper"

'Redevelopment and Reconstruction Guide White Paper' 280 Pages
Includes Understanding, Current Status, Issues, and Improvement Plans of Maintenance Projects
"First Published by Local Governments, Full Support for Maintenance Project Administration"

Seongheon Lee, Mayor of Seodaemun District, explains the purpose of publishing the redevelopment and reconstruction maintenance project guidebook at the Seoul City Hall briefing room on the 16th. (Photo by Minjin Kim enter@)

Seodaemun-gu District in Seoul published a comprehensive "Redevelopment and Reconstruction Guide White Paper" on the 16th, covering the understanding, current status, issues, and improvement measures of maintenance projects.

The 280-page white paper includes explanations of problems in the operation of redevelopment and reconstruction maintenance project associations, improvement measures, best practices, as well as content that is usually kept hidden, according to Seodaemun-gu.

Part 1 covers understanding of maintenance projects, Part 2 the current status of maintenance projects, Part 3 the issues of maintenance projects, Part 4 improvement measures for association operations in maintenance projects, and other appendices.

Seongheon Lee, Mayor of Seodaemun-gu, explained at a press briefing held at Seoul City Hall on the morning of the same day, “Since this is the first publication of a redevelopment and reconstruction guide white paper nationwide, there were difficulties in production due to lack of reference materials,” adding, “Given the social conflicts and problems caused by redevelopment and reconstruction, the purpose is to provide practical help for transparent operation and prompt project promotion.”

Redevelopment and reconstruction maintenance projects have complex procedures and take a long time, but many problems arise due to lack of understanding among association members or improper management by some association executives. This leads to project delays, causing damage to members' property rights and wasting administrative resources.

Through the white paper, the district empirically analyzes problems occurring in redevelopment and reconstruction maintenance projects and presents specific improvement measures such as legal amendments and system improvements, expecting to greatly contribute to the establishment and spread of a fair and transparent association operation foundation.

The guide white paper's specific production direction was set and detailed plans established by the “Seodaemun-gu Happiness 100% Promotion Team,” a public-private cooperation think tank launched with the 8th term of Seodaemun-gu’s local government, under the Shintong Development TF.

It was also reviewed by top domestic experts in the maintenance project field, including instructors from the “Seodaemun-gu Redevelopment and Reconstruction Maintenance Project Academy” and advisory members of the “Seodaemun-gu Urban Maintenance Project Advisory Group.” Besides the white paper, a summary version (74 pages) was separately created and posted as a PDF file on the Seodaemun-gu Office website (District News → Seodaemun Media → Administrative Publications) for anyone to download and refer to online.

Seungju Lee, President of the Korean Urban Maintenance Society, said in a recommendation, “I hope the publication of the white paper will spread beyond Seodaemun-gu to the central government and other local governments, helping to promote more proper maintenance projects,” and “I expect it to become a cornerstone for transparent redevelopment and reconstruction maintenance project association operations by raising awareness among association members about problems and improvement measures.”

The mayor said, “I hope the white paper will be used as an effective guideline for the prompt and successful promotion of maintenance projects,” and “We will continue to devote all efforts to administrative support for maintenance projects to improve residential environments and the quality of life of residents.”

Meanwhile, Seodaemun-gu currently has 55 maintenance zones, and the Hongje area around Inwang Market and Yujin Shopping Center has been selected as a candidate site for Seoul’s Station Area Revitalization Project, signaling a groundbreaking change. The district is also planning the undergrounding of the Gyeongui Line railroad in front of Yonsei University in Sinchon, the creation of a new Daehak-ro, and a three-dimensional complex development project around Yonsei-ro.

Redevelopment and Reconstruction Guidebook. (Provided by Seodaemun-gu Office)

Main Contents of Seodaemun-gu Redevelopment and Reconstruction White Paper

[Part 1 Understanding Maintenance Projects]

- Explanation of the definition, history, classification, and promotion procedures of maintenance projects

[Part 2 Current Status of Seodaemun-gu Maintenance Projects]

- Section 1 Overview of Maintenance Projects

· Total of 94 maintenance projects in Seodaemun-gu (65 completed, 29 in progress including project implementation)

- Section 2 Status of Project Implementation

· Total of 22 projects by type (16 redevelopment, 6 reconstruction)

[Part 3 Issues of Maintenance Projects]

- Section 1 Investigation of Types and Causes of Problems during Project Implementation

· Types of problems by project promotion stage, types of causes, and case studies of problem occurrences

- Section 2 Actual Conditions and Issues of Association Operations

· Problems such as free transfer service contracts for national/public land and separate ordering contracts

· Actual conditions and issues of using promotional (OS) personnel including forgery and alteration of written resolutions

· Actual conditions and issues of prolonged non-dissolution (non-settlement) of associations causing financial damage to members

· Media-reported cases of association operation problems (bribery, money exchange, forgery of written resolutions, etc.)

[Part 4 Improvement Measures for Association Operations in Maintenance Projects]

- Section 1 Proposals for Amendments to Urban Maintenance Act and Other Laws

· Proposal to amend the Urban Maintenance Act to unify demolition service contracts for obstacles during demolition (planned)

· Proposal to amend the Urban Maintenance Act to legislate bundled ordering of maintenance infrastructure to minimize separate ordering (planned)

· Proposal to amend the Urban Maintenance Act to activate permanent electronic voting to ban promotional personnel activities (planned)

· Proposal for strong regulation of acts delaying long-term liquidation of associations (planned)

- Section 2 Implementation and Proposals for System Improvements in Association Operations

· Proposal to Seoul City to add a comparative search function related to service contracts to the “All About Maintenance Project Information” platform (planned)

· Administrative guidance to ensure proper service contracts through improvement of free transfer contract methods for national/public land

- Section 3 Inspection of Actual Conditions of Association Operations

· Four annual inspections of association operations for proper management (the only district among Seoul’s autonomous districts)

- Section 4 Strengthening Education for Association Executives

· Introduction of mandatory completion of maintenance project academy education to prevent conflicts with association members in advance