[Yongsan International Business District Development] Differences Between 2010 and 2024 Development Plans

Private-led → Public-Private Gradual Implementation
Seobuichondong Excluded from Project Area
Average Floor Area Ratio Raised from 745% to 900%
Residential Ratio 30%, 6,000 Households Supplied

The Yongsan International Business District development plan revealed on the 5th has two differences from the 2010 plan. One is the exclusion of Seobu Ichon-dong from the development area, and the other is that the public and private sectors will implement the project in phases. This is analyzed as a result of reflecting measures to address issues such as apartment compensation problems in Seobu Ichon-dong that occurred in the previous plan and the sluggish momentum of project promotion due to private sector-led development.

On the 5th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced the 'Yongsan International Business District Development Plan (Draft)' to construct a 100-story landmark international business district in Yongsan. A view of the Yongsan maintenance depot site, the planned location for the international business district. Photo by Heo Younghan younghan@

Floor Area Ratio up to 1700%, Residential Ratio Increased to 30%

Mayor Oh Se-hoon unveiled the development plan on the 5th, one year and six months after releasing the Yongsan International Business District development guidelines in July 2022. The guidelines at that time included plans to develop a 493,000㎡ site, excluding Ichon-dong, including the Yongsan Maintenance Depot, the rear site of Yongsan Station, the KEPCO site, and the northern section of the Hangang Railroad Bridge, into a business district with office, commercial, and residential uses. In this announcement, the project site was set at 495,000㎡, excluding Seobu Ichon-dong. The scale of the project site was significantly reduced from 510,000㎡ in the 2010 plan, which included Seobu Ichon-dong as a development target. This is analyzed as a measure to avoid repeating the precedent where apartment compensation issues in Seobu Ichon-dong became an obstacle to project promotion.

In terms of land use, the central commercial district ratio was more than doubled to 23.8%. The height of buildings in the core international business zone is allowed up to 100 floors for landmark buildings, about 80 floors for other international business zones, about 60 floors for business complex zones, and about 40 floors for business support zones.

The average floor area ratio was also raised from 745% to 900%. If private developers propose innovative designs for two blocks in the international business zone, the floor area ratio can be increased up to 1700%. Applying this would raise the district's average floor area ratio to 900%. The residential ratio was 19% (about 3,000 households) of the total floor area in the 2010 plan, but it has been increased to 30% in this plan, allowing up to 6,000 households to be built.

The project cost also increased by more than 20 trillion won, from 31 trillion won to 51.1 trillion won. Of this, 14.3 trillion won will be spent by the public sector, including compensation and infrastructure costs, and 36.8 trillion won will be invested by private developers for land acquisition and construction costs.

In this development plan, the land use is further subdivided compared to the 2010 plan, with 30% for the international business zone, 35% for business complex, and 35% for business support, whereas the 2010 plan had 79% office use and 21% mixed-use residential.

Private Development Failed... Integrated Development with Yeouido Also Canceled

Another difference from the previous plan is that Korail (70%) and SH Corporation (30%) will jointly implement the project. Since 2019, Seoul City has commissioned a study to prepare development guidelines for the Yongsan Maintenance Depot and has been preparing the development plan. Seoul City and Korail reached a consensus through working-level consultations to jointly implement the urban development project with Korail and SH Corporation to establish the current development plan framework. This is a measure to secure the public interest of the project and to resolve problems caused by the previous private sector-led project promotion.

During Mayor Oh Se-hoon's first term (2006?2010), the city announced the 'Hangang Renaissance Master Plan,' envisioning the Yongsan Maintenance Depot site and Seobu Ichon-dong area combined into a 566,000㎡ site to become the largest business hub in Northeast Asia. At that time, the city promoted integrated development led by the private sector. Subsequently, 30 companies including Samsung C&T and Lotte Tour Development formed a consortium called Dream Hub Project Financing Vehicle (PFV) to advance the project. However, due to the financial crisis, the real estate market cooled, and the project stalled, leading to the cancellation of the district designation in October 2013.

Because the project was pursued through private development amid external shocks such as the financial crisis, insufficient capital from the implementer, and unresolved conflicts over compensation in Seobu Ichon-dong, the prime land in Yongsan was left idle for over 10 years. Samsung C&T, the project lead, gave up the project rights, and Korail transferred the rights to Lotte Tour Development, but conflicts among project stakeholders and delays in additional investment eventually caused the project to collapse. At that time, the initial capital of the project operator was only 3.8% of the total project cost.

Later, Korail regained ownership of the Yongsan Maintenance Depot site in 2018 after a lawsuit to reclaim the property. The previously dormant international business district development project resurfaced when former Mayor Park Won-soon announced a 'master plan' for integrated development of Yeouido and Yongsan. However, the plan was put on hold within a month due to soaring housing prices.