Kim Jongmyung, Director of Railway Construction, Vows Strict Response to Unauthorized Occupation at Jungang-ro Underground Shopping Mall

59 Stores (13%) Occupied Without Authorization
Enhanced Practical Support for Authorized Users
Restructuring of Shared Management Fee Allocation

Jongmyung Kim, Director of Railroad Construction Bureau of Daejeon City, is holding a casual meeting on the afternoon of the 24th at 2 p.m. in the press room regarding the "Current Status of Management and Operation of Jungangro Underground Shopping Center."
(Photo by Seokbong Mo)

Kim Jongmyung, Director of the Daejeon City Railway Construction Bureau, held a tea meeting at the press room at 2:00 p.m. on July 24 to discuss the "Current Status of Management and Operation of Jungang-ro Underground Shopping Mall." He stated, "Since the city completely restructured the operation system of the Jungang-ro Underground Shopping Mall, we have been implementing practical support measures in stages to stabilize merchants' businesses and reduce their burdens."

The Jungang-ro Underground Shopping Mall currently has a total of 440 stores: 364 stores (83%) are in normal use, 59 stores (13%) are occupied without authorization, and 17 stores (4%) are either vacant or used for industrial purposes.

For decades, the operating organization of the Jungang-ro Underground Shopping Mall used the property either free of charge or for a fee, depending on the donation acceptance conditions. However, according to related laws, the usage period ended as of July 5, 2024.

Accordingly, Daejeon City has reorganized the usage rights through an open competitive bidding process and has begun managing public assets based on principles.

Director Kim stated, "Regarding the issue of unauthorized occupation of some stores that arose during this process, the city is strictly applying the principle of imposing compensation charges based on the winning bid price, in accordance with the principle that authorized users who comply with the law should not be disadvantaged." He explained, "This is a legitimate measure based on authoritative interpretations from the Ministry of Government Legislation and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety."

Director Kim also emphasized that all claims made by the emergency committee, which consists of some unauthorized occupants?such as ▲forced bidding ▲criteria for imposing compensation charges ▲and increased winning bid prices due to manipulation of Onbid view counts?are not true. He stressed that the (competitive) bidding was conducted transparently through the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's standard procedures and the Onbid electronic bidding system, and that sufficient prior notice was given regarding the bidding schedule.

In particular, regarding the suspicion of manipulation of Onbid view counts, he said, "False information continues to be spread without concrete evidence," and stated, "To clearly uncover the truth, it is more appropriate to refer the matter to investigative agencies such as the police, which have investigative authority, rather than conducting an internal audit by the city, which does not. We will actively cooperate if requested by investigative agencies."

The city is also pursuing legal procedures, such as filing eviction lawsuits and imposing compensation charges against unauthorized occupants, and plans to resolve the issue of unauthorized occupation as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the city is also promoting practical measures to ease the burden for authorized users who have legally secured usage rights.

First, the city actively conveyed merchants' business difficulties to the appraisal corporation regarding the store appraisal value, which serves as the basis for calculating usage fees. As a result, the total appraised value of Jungang-ro Underground Shopping Mall for 2025 was reduced by 4.73% compared to the previous year. This is expected to directly lower the usage fee burden by being linked to the store-specific winning bid rates.

In addition, the city will revise the structure for sharing common management fees, which are a fixed cost. Previously, the city and merchants bore 44% and 56% of the costs, respectively. However, reflecting the expansion of common areas such as the underground parking lot, the city plans to increase its share to 60% and reduce the merchants' share to 40%.

However, this measure is conditional on the inclusion of the parking lot as a common area. If this plan is finalized, merchants' annual burden is expected to decrease by approximately 340 million won per year, or about 28 million won per month on average.

Finally, Director Kim emphasized, "Public property is an asset for all citizens, and we remain committed to managing it based on principles and fairness. We will continue to listen to voices on the ground, seek solutions through dialogue and communication, and work together to reduce the burden on authorized users of the underground shopping mall, who are struggling due to the economic downturn, and to revitalize the underground shopping mall."