Yongin Dongcheon 3 District, 4 Years Since Apartment Move-in but Donation and Dedication Still 'Pending'

Union Side Delays Completion of 'Dongcheon Youth Culture House' Five Times
Mayor Lee Sang-il Orders "Firm Action to Ensure Installation as Planned"

A city development project association in Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, has been delaying the completion of promised donation facilities for over four years since the apartment move-in. Accordingly, the city is urging the association to fulfill its promise and has pressured the association, stating it will "respond firmly."

According to Yongin-si on the 17th, the 'Dongcheon 3 District Urban Development Project Association' agreed to build and donate the 'Dongcheon Youth Culture House' by August 2022 as part of public contributions during the change approval process of the apartment construction project plan in 2016.

A view of the surroundings of the construction site of 'Dongcheon Youth Culture House,' being built as a public contribution under the Yongin Dongcheon 3 District Urban Development Project. Although the original completion schedule was exceeded by 2 years and 4 months, the construction has not yet been completed. Provided by Yongin City

The Dongcheon 3 District development project involves constructing 902 apartment units in the area of San 151-2, Dongcheon-dong, Suji-gu. The association completed construction in March 2020 and finalized move-in by August of the same year.

The problem is that the donation facility, 'Dongcheon Youth Culture House,' has not been completed even now, more than 2 years and 4 months past the originally promised deadline. The association has postponed the expected completion date five times from February 2022 until last month, according to the city's explanation.

Currently, the facility shows 80-90% progress, but it requires repairs for BF (Barrier-Free) certification supplementation and defects such as partial leakage and cracks in the building. BF certification is a system where a credible institution evaluates whether planning, design, construction, and management allow children, elderly, disabled, pregnant women, and temporarily disabled persons to access, use, and move through individual facilities and areas without inconvenience, and grants certification accordingly.

The city urged the association 12 times from October last year to November this year to address issues in constructing the 'Dongcheon Youth Culture House,' but the association has delayed construction citing financial difficulties and has not sincerely responded to the city's requests for facility improvements, according to the city.

The association replied to the city's urging to complete construction by March next year, the city explained. However, considering the preparation process after construction completion, the 'Dongcheon Youth Culture House' can open in September next year. Due to the delayed opening, the budget of the Yongin Youth Future Foundation, which will operate the youth training facility, has been repeatedly returned and carried over. Delays in infrastructure installation have also caused delays in apartment residents' registration and a series of complaints.

Considering the association's behavior so far, the city judged that even the September opening next year cannot be guaranteed, prompting Mayor Lee Sang-il to step in and issue a strong warning.

Mayor Lee instructed city officials, "Firmly respond to the Dongcheon 3 District association issue to prevent similar cases from occurring," and said, "In the future, to prevent irresponsible problems caused by the association that harm citizens, the city must thoroughly implement measures to ensure that developers install promised infrastructure as planned during the development project stages."

Earlier, to establish institutional measures to prevent intentional delays in donation facilities during development projects, the city revised the 'Standards for Installation and Operation of Infrastructure in Development Projects' in June. The operation standards include: ▲ No announcement of resident recruitment if the implementation plan for infrastructure is incomplete before apartment sales ▲ Suspension of housing construction if infrastructure installation is delayed after housing construction starts ▲ Joint inspection after infrastructure construction completion and apartment use approval only after recognizing construction completion, all to ensure infrastructure installation aligns with housing project schedules.

A city official said, "The Dongcheon 3 District project is a representative case where the developer's irresponsible attitude harms citizens and city administration," and added, "If the association repeats its insincere attitude shown so far, the city will take multifaceted measures, including continuously informing citizens and the media about the association's problems."