Victory in Administrative Lawsuit Against Sangam-dong Incinerator Construction
and Completion of Registration for Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment After 10 Years,
Enabling Residents to Exercise Property Rights Worth 1.56 Trillion KRW
Park Gang-su, the Mayor of Mapo District, is a ‘problem solver’ who addresses not only major regional issues but also various concerns related to residents' daily lives.
Since his inauguration, he has received applause for his bold actions in resolving long-standing concerns of residents, including the issue of the expansion of the incinerator in Sangam-dong that arose after his appointment.
Victory in Administrative Litigation Over Construction of Sangam-dong Waste Incinerator
Mapo District warmly welcomed the ruling by the Administrative Court of Seoul, Administrative Division 11, on the 10th of last month, which ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the ‘Lawsuit to Cancel the Notice of Location Decision for the Metropolitan Resource Recovery Facility’.
This lawsuit was filed by 1,850 Mapo residents against the location decision for the metropolitan resource recovery facility announced by Seoul City on August 31, 2023, and the court sided with the residents of Mapo.
Mayor Park Gang-su stated regarding the ruling, “This is a victory for the incineration reduction policy that Mapo District and its residents have continuously advocated for, and the court has made a reasonable judgment against the unilateral and excessive decision to locate the incinerator.”
Seoul City unilaterally announced Sangam-dong in Mapo District as a candidate site for a new 1,000-ton incinerator in preparation for the ban on landfill waste in 2026, insisting that the installation of an additional incinerator was the only alternative.
However, Mapo District has clearly opposed this unilateral administrative action by Seoul City by proposing fundamental solutions to the waste problem.
The district conducted research at the entire district office level, centered on the NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) Task Force team, and continuously demanded from Seoul City ▲the unfairness of the incinerator site selection process ▲alternative proposals through recycling facilities ▲introduction of advanced recycling policies ▲improvements in the operation of resource recovery facilities ▲realistic pricing of volume-based waste bags ▲and resolution of soil contamination issues.
In particular, Mapo District prioritized the safety and health of its residents and strongly opposed Seoul City’s unilateral push for incinerator construction. On November 4, 2024, the district formed the ‘Policy Advisory Group Against Additional Incinerator Construction’ and requested supplementation of inappropriate or omitted content in Seoul City’s draft environmental impact assessment based on expert advice.
Through this, the district reiterated the unfairness of the incinerator construction push and mobilized all means together with residents to respond. Mayor Park Gang-su of Mapo District said, “Rather than forcibly proceeding with the construction of the Mapo incinerator, which is fraught with procedural flaws and unfairness, priority should be given to improving processing performance through modernization of the current four metropolitan resource recovery facilities and actual waste reduction through recycling. We hope Seoul City will now heed Mapo’s incinerator solution,” expressing strong determination.
Completion of Registration for 1,164-Unit Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment in Mapo After 10 Years of Non-Registration, Enabling Property Rights Worth 1.56 Trillion KRW... Mayor Park Gang-su’s Active Mediation and Swift Administrative Support Lead to Preservation Registration Completion
Mapo District (Mayor Park Gang-su) finally completed the registration of Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment, which had completed the prior notification last year, on January 21.
By resolving the long-standing issue of the residents of Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment, which had been unregistered for about 10 years, Mapo District was able to bring good news to residents starting from the new year of 2025, the Year of the Eulsa.
Due to the lack of prior notification and registration procedures, the 1,164 households of Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment faced restrictions on financial institution loans and other matters. As of the end of 2023, the exercise of property rights worth an estimated 1.56 trillion KRW was difficult.
Mapo District judged that this issue could not be simply regarded as a legal problem between the association and residents, and from February 2023, held a coexistence committee to resolve the issue and directly mediated meetings between the parties, led by Mayor Park Gang-su.
Thanks to Mapo District’s persistent mediation, in November 2023, an agreement was reached between two of the three landowners who had not agreed and the association.
Subsequently, in October 2024, following the Seoul Regional Land Expropriation Commission’s decision on the compensation for the remaining landowner, with whom it had been difficult to narrow differences, the association completed the expropriation of all land within the project area. Accordingly, Mapo District promptly completed the prior notification on December 19, 2024, to facilitate swift registration.
Afterward, in early January this year, Mapo District quickly created the building ledger for Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment to enable the relevant redevelopment maintenance project association to file for preservation registration.
Thanks to Mapo District’s swift administrative actions, Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment reached a historic moment by completing registration on January 21, 2025, less than two months after completing the prior notification.
An association official said, “From agreement to expropriation decision and prior notification, all these processes proceeded quickly thanks to Mapo District’s active administrative support. We sincerely thank them for completely wiping away the grievances of Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment residents.”
Mayor Park Gang-su of Mapo District said, “It is very meaningful to finally resolve the 10-year-old wish of Gongdeok Ja-i Apartment residents, and I hope this moment will be remembered as a historic moment bringing great joy to the residents. Mapo District will continue to spare no administrative support for reconstruction and redevelopment projects where everyone can coexist.”
The passion and perseverance of Mayor Park Gang-su, who regards the pain of residents as his own and strives to solve problems by any means, are bearing fruit one by one, earning great applause from residents.
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