Yangju City Calls for Alternative Funeral Facility Sites at Two Locations... Both Fail to Meet Requirements

Yangju City to Reconsider Due to Two Sites Failing to Meet Requirements
Securing Resident Consent Remains Key

Yangju City in Gyeonggi Province announced on July 17 that, as a result of the public call for alternative sites for a comprehensive funeral facility held over 50 days from May 23 to July 11, applications were submitted from two locations: Deokdo 2-ri in Gwangjeok-myeon and Bongyang 2-tong in Hoecheon 1-dong.

Exterior view of Yangju City Hall. Provided by Yangju City

This public call was conducted under the same conditions as in 2023, in response to public demand for a review of alternative sites to Bangseong 1-ri, which had been selected as the site for the comprehensive funeral facility in 2023. Villages (administrative ri or tong) wishing to host the facility were required to hold a village meeting and obtain the consent of at least 60% of all households before submitting an application.

Deokdo 2-ri proposed San 141 and four other parcels in Deokdori (approximately 480,000 square meters), while Bongyang 2-tong proposed San 65 and 120 other parcels in Bongyang-dong (approximately 730,000 square meters) as candidate sites. Both locations are situated on the outskirts of the city, featuring relatively secluded terrain that is not easily visible from outside.

However, in Deokdo 2-ri, it was confirmed that a village meeting had not been held, and only 57 out of 119 households gave their consent, failing to meet the application requirement of 60% resident approval. In Bongyang 2-tong, it was found that the required documents, such as the village meeting record and resident consent forms, had not been submitted.

An official from Yangju City stated, "If the requirements, such as 60% resident consent, had been met, we planned to conduct a site feasibility study and make the final site selection based on objective criteria, as was done for the original site in Bangseong 1-ri. In the 2023 public call, we also conducted feasibility studies and site selection reviews only for the three villages that met the application requirements, including 60% resident consent."

Yangju City plans to continue seeking more stable and reasonable ways to advance the project through ongoing communication with local residents.