Urging the Nullification of the Agreement Signed with Four Districts, Excluding Mapo-gu as a Party
Strongly Demanding Withdrawal of Appeal Against the Site Selection Decision for the Metropolitan Resource Recovery Facility
Mapo-gu (District Mayor Park Kangsoo) has strongly condemned the Seoul Metropolitan Government for unilaterally signing a revised agreement on May 16 with four autonomous districts?Jung-gu, Yongsan-gu, Jongno-gu, and Seodaemun-gu?regarding the joint use of the Mapo Resource Recovery Facility, while thoroughly excluding Mapo-gu from the process.
The Mapo Resource Recovery Facility is a waste incineration facility under the jurisdiction of Seoul, operated based on joint-use agreements signed in 1997 and 2009 by Seoul and five autonomous districts, including Mapo-gu, for waste intake. The current agreement is set to expire on May 31, 2025.
In response, the Seoul Metropolitan Government proceeded with an extension agreement, preparing a revised version that indefinitely extends the validity period from "20 years from the start of facility use" to "until the facility is closed." This was signed without the consent of Mapo-gu, which is a party to the agreement.
Prior to the agreement, Mapo-gu, which has faithfully fulfilled the terms of the joint-use agreement, proposed specific resource circulation measures to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on April 29 and May 16, 2025, in order to address the fundamental waste problem and protect Mapo-gu residents, who are the actual victims.
The main proposals included: annual contract renewals, an increase in household waste intake fees and the proportion used to calculate the resident support fund, joint operation of the incinerator by Mapo-gu and Seoul, and a requirement that more than half of the Mapo Resource Recovery Facility Operation Committee be composed of Mapo-gu officials and members of the Mapo Resident Support Council.
Additionally, the proposals included immediate withdrawal of Seoul's appeal, an increase in pay-as-you-throw bag prices, the establishment of waste treatment facilities in each autonomous district, and a policy to reduce the amount of waste incinerated in Seoul by 10% over the next five years, as measures to prevent the construction of additional incinerators.
Nevertheless, the proposals by Mapo-gu for "annual renewal of the joint-use agreement" and "majority composition of the Operation Committee by Mapo-gu officials and Mapo Resident Support Council members" were dismissed due to opposition from all Operation Committee attendees except Mapo-gu and the Mapo Resident Support Council.
Since 2005, Mapo-gu has endured a 750-ton capacity resource recovery facility, and for over 20 years, residents have borne health, environmental, and property damages caused by the incineration facility.
Furthermore, the area is densely packed with numerous NIMBY facilities such as the Danginri Power Plant, Nanjido (where metropolitan waste is landfilled), the Petroleum Reserve Base, Sangam Hydrogen Station, and the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Plant, resulting in increasingly severe suffering and damage for residents.
In this context, without any consultation, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced plans in August 2022 to install a new 1,000-ton incinerator in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, trampling on the right to life, environmental rights, and property rights of Mapo-gu residents and forcing unilateral sacrifice.
Furthermore, on January 10 of this year, despite losing a lawsuit to revoke the "Public Notice on the Site Selection for the Metropolitan Resource Recovery Facility" due to procedural flaws such as the composition of the site selection committee, the Seoul Metropolitan Government pressed ahead with an appeal without reflecting the will of Mapo-gu.
In response, on March 5, Mapo-gu submitted a petition with the signatures of approximately 38,000 residents opposing the construction of an additional incinerator to the Seoul High Court and the Seoul Metropolitan Government, clearly expressing its opposition.
Nevertheless, the Seoul Metropolitan Government continues its appeal, disregarding the will of the residents, and has once again unilaterally pushed through the extension of the joint-use agreement without communication.
Mapo-gu has stated that the Seoul Metropolitan Government's uncommunicative administration is "an extremely unjust decision that fails to consider the positions and rights of Mapo-gu and its residents, where the resource recovery facility is located," and declared its intent to respond forcefully using all available administrative and legal measures.
In addition, Mapo-gu plans to cooperate with residents to take a firm stance against the Seoul Metropolitan Government, which has ignored policy alternatives such as modernizing existing incinerators and continues to shift the entire burden of waste management onto Mapo-gu without constructing additional incinerators.
Park Kangsoo, Mayor of Mapo-gu, expressed regret, stating, "The unilateral signing of the agreement by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the four autonomous districts without consultation with Mapo-gu is an act that thoroughly disregards the sacrifices of Mapo-gu residents and betrays the principle of cooperative governance."
He further emphasized, "Matters directly affecting residents' lives, such as the resource recovery facility, cannot be justified under any pretext without the consent of the parties involved. The agreement signed without Mapo-gu's participation lacks both procedural and substantive legitimacy. We demand the immediate nullification of the agreement and an official renegotiation with Seoul."
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