Eradicating 'Kkamkkami Jiju-taek'... Seoul City Conducts One-Month Inspection of 7 Cooperatives' Conditions

Extended Investigation Period and Increased Staffing for Business Delay and Complaints Combination Targets

Seoul City will conduct focused inspections on local housing cooperatives that have numerous complaints or delayed projects to prevent damages to cooperative members.

The city announced on the 9th that it will begin a one-month compliance inspection of seven local housing cooperatives starting from the 10th. The targets include cooperatives that failed to correct issues pointed out during last year’s ‘Local Housing Cooperative Survey,’ those with complaints due to internal conflicts, and cooperatives with significantly low land acquisition rates relative to the project duration.

Seoul City plans to extend the inspection period from 5 days last year to 7 days this year and strengthen professional personnel to review project feasibility and the appropriateness of members’ contributions. In particular, three cooperatives that received project plan approval but have not started construction will be closely examined for project viability due to internal conflicts caused by increased project costs and member contributions.

The city will comprehensively inspect the appropriateness of ▲ cooperative recruitment advertisements and promotions ▲ service contract agreements ▲ member qualifications and cooperative bylaws ▲ qualifications and scope of work of business agents ▲ fund management methods ▲ preparation of performance reports ▲ information disclosure ▲ fund operation plans and execution results.

If any suspected cases of breach of trust or embezzlement are detected during this survey, Seoul City will request an investigation. If the same issue is detected more than twice, administrative measures such as immediate fines, investigation requests, and prosecution will be enforced.

The city will post the survey results on ‘Jeongbi Saeop Jeongbo Mongttang’ (Maintenance Project Information All-in-One) so that cooperative members and the public can access them. Detailed issues for each cooperative will be disclosed through the websites operated by each cooperative for their members to check.

Han Byung-yong, Director of Seoul City’s Housing Policy Office, said, “We will manage local housing cooperatives, which were once stigmatized as ‘Hell Housing Cooperatives’ due to opaque project management, to be trusted as sound maintenance projects.” He added, “We will continue to strengthen thorough inspections and supervision to ensure transparent cooperative operations and prevent damages to cooperative members.”