Seongdong-gu Holds Legislative Forum to Prevent Gentrification

On the 5th, at the National Assembly Members' Office Building, urging amendments to three laws?the Commercial Lease Protection Act, Local Commercial Area Act, and Real Estate Transaction Reporting Act?to prevent the harms of gentrification... Co-hosted by Jeong Won-o, Mayor of Seongdong-gu and chairman of the 'Local Government Council for Gentrification Prevention and Sustainable Communities,' and Jeon Hyun-hee, Supreme Council Member

Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Mayor Jung Won-oh) announced that a 'Legislative Forum to Prevent Gentrification' will be held on December 5th at 1:30 PM in the 2nd Conference Room of the National Assembly Members' Office Building.

This legislative forum aims to discuss three laws related to preventing gentrification for the protection of tenants' rights and sustainable commercial districts: the Commercial Building Lease Protection Act (hereinafter 'Commercial Lease Act'), the Act on Mutual Growth and Revitalization of Local Commercial Districts (hereinafter 'Local Commercial District Act'), and the Real Estate Transaction Reporting Act (hereinafter 'Real Estate Transaction Reporting Act'). The forum is co-hosted by the ‘Local Government Council for Preventing Gentrification and Sustainable Communities’ (hereinafter ‘Local Government Council’), chaired by Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, and Jeon Hyun-hee, Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party and National Assembly member for Seoul Jung-gu and Seongdong-gu Gap.

About 100 participants including member local governments of the Local Government Council, National Assembly members, the Ministry of Justice, the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, and Momsangmo will attend, urging amendments to related laws such as the Commercial Lease Act to promote coexistence in local communities and prevent the harms of gentrification.

In particular, there will be presentations and in-depth discussions on the necessity and improvement directions of legal amendments related to preventing gentrification. Starting with a case presentation by Lee Jae-jun, Mayor of Suwon City, who recently declared the vision of 'Local Commercial District Protection City, Suwon' focusing on Haenggung-dong, followed by a presentation by lawyer Lee Sun-min of the public interest law organization Duru on ‘Issues and Proposals after the Amendment of the Commercial Building Lease Protection Act.’

Additionally, Professor Yoon Joo-sun of the Department of Architecture at Chungnam National University will chair the session, with thematic presentations and discussions by Kim Il-young, Policy Committee Member of the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice Urban Reform Center, Kim Nam-gyun, Chairperson of Momsangmo, and Prosecutor Lee Kyung-hwa from the Ministry of Justice's Legal Review Office.

The Local Government Council was established in June 2016 to build a cooperative response system among local governments nationwide to prevent gentrification and to spread public consensus. In November 2023, it actively promoted the cause by issuing a joint statement at the National Assembly urging amendments to the three related laws on gentrification prevention: the Commercial Lease Act, the Local Commercial District Act, and the Real Estate Transaction Reporting Act.

As a result, the enforcement decree of the Commercial Lease Act was amended in 2018, and the Local Commercial District Act was enacted in 2021 based on an ordinance from Seongdong-gu. This led to a reduction of the rent ceiling from 9% to 5%, and the contract renewal right was extended from 5 years to 10 years, laying the foundation for a stable business environment for commercial tenants.

However, illegal rent increases exploiting legal blind spots still occur, posing a threat to preventing the harms of gentrification. Therefore, the Local Government Council is striving to urge related legal amendments for institutional improvements.

Jeon Hyun-hee, Supreme Council Member and co-host of the forum, stated, “Gentrification, which forces self-employed and small business owners to leave their communities due to rapid rent increases, is a long-standing issue in our society. I hope this forum will serve as a catalyst to strongly protect commercial tenants and create a sustainable commercial ecosystem.”

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “To enhance the effectiveness of policies preventing gentrification, institutional support is crucial. Among them, the converted deposit standard system, created to protect small merchants, ironically encourages landlords to excessively raise rents and is a major cause of gentrification, so it must be abolished.”

He added, “The amendment bills for the three laws to prevent gentrification form an institutional foundation to prevent the harms of gentrification and build sustainable mutually beneficial cities. We will do our best at the local government level to ensure that related legislative amendments are enacted.”