Yongin City "Policy on Denying Jukjeon Quarry Remains Unchanged"

Company A Mining Adjustment Committee Reaffirms Position on 'Cancellation Request of Unauthorized Disposition'
"Exceeds Average Slope Standard... Concerns Over Collective Complaints Due to Proximity to Schools and Residential Areas"

Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province has reaffirmed its stance of disapproval regarding the controversial plan to establish a quarry near schools and residential areas.

On the 10th, Yongin City stated that its position remains unchanged in opposing the quarry installation plan proposed by Company A in the area of San 26-3, Jukjeon-dong, Suji-gu. This stance follows Company A’s appeal to the Mining Adjustment Committee under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy against Gyeonggi Province’s two denials of the mining plan approval, as Gyeonggi Province is the authority responsible for approving mining plans.

Previously, Company A had been pursuing an open-pit feldspar mine over an area of 189,587㎡ in this region. In 2021, when Company A applied for mining rights, the city expressed its objection in response to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s consultation request.

However, in December of the same year, the Ministry registered Company A’s mining rights with a 20-year validity period, and based on this, Company A applied for mining plan approval from Gyeonggi Province last year. A business intending to extract minerals must obtain mining rights first and then receive mining plan approval from the city or province. Once the mining plan is approved, the business must obtain local government permits for individual legal acts such as development activities or earth and stone extraction.

In response to Gyeonggi Province’s consultation request last year regarding the mining plan approval, the city replied in August with a refusal for development activities and reaffirmed this position again in January this year during the second consultation request. Gyeonggi Province also issued a denial decision referencing the city’s opinion.

Subsequently, Company A filed a "Request for Cancellation of Mining Plan Disapproval" with the Mining Adjustment Committee. On July 31, the committee postponed its decision, citing insufficient objective evaluation of Gyeonggi Province’s decision and Company A’s evidence, and plans to review the matter again next month.

The city pointed out that Dankook University is located right next to the quarry site, and across the national road lies a large residential complex with about 20,000 households, raising concerns about significant complaints due to potential residential environment damage. Additionally, the forest land in question has good forest conditions, making preservation more valuable than development. The city especially emphasized that the slope of the site is much steeper than the city’s development activity slope standard of 17.5 degrees, making development approval absolutely impossible.

Therefore, even if the Mining Adjustment Committee accepts Company A’s request, the city plans to block actual mining activities by disallowing development activities according to the "National Land Planning and Utilization Act" and city ordinances.

A city official stated, "We are doing our best to ensure the Mining Adjustment Committee makes the right decision," adding, "Even if the committee accepts Company A’s request, the city’s firm policy is to block development activity permits at the city level according to individual laws and ordinances."