Gongjeonhyeop Urges Measures to Address Delays in Land Compensation for 3rd Phase New Towns

Call for Amendment of the Special Act on Public Housing

The National Solidarity Council for Public Housing Districts (Gongjeonhyeop) held a protest rally and press conference on the 14th in front of the Seoul Administrative Court in Yangjae-dong, Seoul, urging the amendment of the Special Act on Public Housing to address delays in the development projects of the 3rd New Towns and delays in land compensation.

The National Solidarity Council for Public Housing Districts held a press conference on the 14th, urging the amendment of the Special Act on Public Housing. Provided by Gongjeonhyeop.

The rally was attended by over 200 people, including representatives and residents from the Metropolitan Area Residents' Countermeasure Committees of public housing districts in Gyeonggi and Incheon, representatives from compensation district committees scattered nationwide in Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, and others, as well as lawyers from the law firm Hau, an advisory member of Gongjeonhyeop.

At the press conference, Lim Chaegwan, chairman of Gongjeonhyeop, criticized the delay in compensation, stating, “Forced expropriated original residents who have not received just compensation guaranteed by the Constitution during the development process of new towns and public housing districts nationwide are suffering the pain of losing their cherished homes and having their houses and farmland, which they have built with lifelong hard work and sweat, forcibly taken at a low price.”

Chairman Lim said, “The government and lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties must now take action to amend the Special Act on Public Housing to resolve the enormous financial losses suffered by original residents due to compensation delays.”

He added, “The problem is that it is almost impossible to purchase adjacent land with the expropriation price,” and insisted, “To maintain residents’ livelihoods and ensure stable resettlement, the government must promptly proceed with land compensation and establish relief measures for residents’ damages, such as systems to alleviate loan interest burdens.”

On this day, Gongjeonhyeop issued a statement on the necessity of amending the Special Act on Public Housing on behalf of residents’ countermeasure committees from 95 project districts nationwide, representing 1 million original residents, their families, and landowners.

In the statement, Gongjeonhyeop demanded ▲ that if land compensation is not conducted within two years after the designation of a public housing district, the designation should be withdrawn or the project should proceed as a land readjustment project under the Urban Development Act through conversion to a public interest project ▲ that if land compensation is not conducted within two years after the designation of a public housing district, a delay surcharge (12% per annum) should be added to the land compensation payment from the point two years have elapsed to compensate residents for their losses ▲ that if land compensation is conducted after two years from the designation of a public housing district, the appraisal should apply the officially announced standard land price immediately prior to the compensation evaluation price date ▲ the complete suspension of development plans using forced land expropriation or changes in development methods, avoidance of one-way, non-communicative, and unfair expropriation and development methods, establishment of communication channels for each project district, and guaranteeing residents’ participation in the proposal of public housing projects, urban planning reviews, and district planning processes.