Sejong City Councilor Sang Byungheon: "Data Center Should Be Located in Outlying Area"

"Residents' Safety and Living Environment Must Come First"

Clockwise: Sang Byungheon, Sejong City Councilor; Choi Minho, Mayor of Sejong City. / Photo by Office of Public Relations Planning Team

On August 25, Sejong City Councilor Sang Byungheon strongly raised concerns regarding the planned installation of a data center in the second building of the Sejong Finance Center during an emergency inquiry at the first plenary session of the 100th special meeting.

He firmly urged, "The location of the data center must be reconsidered for an outlying area, and institutional improvements must also be established."

He explained the background for raising the issue, stating, "Despite citizens holding rallies in front of City Hall for a month, the voices of residents are not being sufficiently reflected in the administration." He continued, "At a meeting with the emergency response committee opposing the installation on August 19, the mayor stated that the project could proceed if legal requirements were met. However, simply meeting legal standards cannot resolve residents' anxieties or the opposition from the public."

According to Councilor Sang, the Eojin-dong data center would require a power supply capacity of 40MW, which is equivalent to the electricity used by approximately 80,000 households or 320,000 people. This is nearly the total electricity consumption of all Sejong City residents, making such a facility excessively large to be located in the heart of the city.

Councilor Sang warned, "Since the center will use an air-cooling system, it will emit hot water vapor at around 35 degrees Celsius around the clock. Concerns about noise, the heat island effect, and electromagnetic waves affecting residents cannot simply be dismissed as unfounded worries."

He also detailed the specific reasons for residents' opposition. Within a 500-meter radius of the proposed data center site, there are educational facilities such as daycare centers and schools where about 1,500 children spend their days, and residential complexes housing over 4,000 people are densely concentrated.

He cited the following as major reasons: the unsuitability of a high-capacity facility in the city center; hindrance to the development of local businesses; contraction of the real estate market; worsening of business districts and opportunity cost issues; and inconsistency with Sejong City's urban identity.

He particularly supported his concerns with overseas examples. In Loudoun County, Virginia, USA, after heightened community conflict, public hearings and special permit procedures for new data centers became mandatory. The Netherlands and Germany have introduced data center master plans and location restrictions, while Japan strengthened prior notification and information session requirements following resident petitions. In contrast, Sejong City continues to repeat that "approval is granted if legal standards are met," failing to address residents' concerns.

He asserted, "Like the Ulsan AI Data Center, the facility should clearly be located in an industrial complex or another outlying area." He argued, "Rather than focusing on building a data center, Sejong City should prioritize attracting government ministries, committees, and public institutions to reinforce its status as the administrative capital and resolve vacant commercial spaces." He further emphasized, "Just as the National Agency for Administrative City Construction and the Ministry of Personnel Management agreed to establish a national recruitment center in Sejong, attracting new public agencies near government complexes would contribute more to utilizing commercial properties and revitalizing the local economy."

He also stressed the need for institutional improvements by comparing the cases of Yongin and Goyang in Gyeonggi Province. Yongin made review by the architectural committee mandatory and established seven strengthened standards, while Goyang amended its urban planning ordinance to restrict data centers in residential areas.

However, he pointed out that Sejong City relies solely on higher-level laws and lacks specific criteria for site selection and safety standards.

Previous resident surveys confirmed these concerns. In an offline petition, 1,200 local residents expressed their opposition, and in an online survey, 94.9% of 215 respondents opposed the Eojin-dong data center location.

Councilor Sang stated, "The Eojin-dong data center is by no means a small-scale facility. According to relevant laws, any data center with a power supply capacity of 40MW or more is designated as a 'large data center,' requiring the establishment of a disaster management system." He criticized, "Unilateral promotion without residents' consent, explanations after the fact, and administration overly focused on corporate interests will only intensify conflict and erode trust in the administration."

He concluded by urging, "The location of the data center must be reconsidered, and guidelines for site selection and safety standards for future facilities must be established as soon as possible."