Construction of a 997-unit apartment complex on prime land in Seoul's Yongsan district has been officially suspended. Approval of a revised business plan has been delayed amid a dispute over design standards for staff housing for the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, which is to be built within the complex. Booyoung Group Chairman Lee Joong-keun has said he intends to normalize the project and proceed with public sales this year, but with no date set even for resuming construction, delays now appear unavoidable not only for the sales but also for the February 2028 completion schedule.
The Yongsan District Office posted on Sept. 17 a construction suspension notice submitted by Booyoung Housing for the new apartment project in the Asea Apartment special planning zone in Hangangno 3-ga, according to redevelopment industry sources on the 20th.
According to the notice, work at the site — where excavation began after a construction commencement report was filed in July 2024 — has been officially halted since Sept. 11. The expected date for resuming construction is listed as "undetermined." The stated reason is a temporary suspension due to delayed approval of a third revision to the business plan.
Environmental protection measures have also been taken at the site in line with the suspension, including the installation of protective sheeting on slopes and dust netting atop temporary sound barriers. Construction industry officials see such steps as going beyond a simple schedule adjustment and as preparation for a prolonged shutdown. With workers and equipment withdrawn and the site switched to a maintenance regime, they say it could take at least several months before work resumes.
"If it were only a temporary scheduling delay, it would be rare to go as far as filing a separate construction suspension report," one construction industry official said. "The fact that site maintenance measures have begun means there is a strong possibility they concluded it would be difficult to resume work for some time."
Behind the suspension is a 150-unit housing complex for staff of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, a facility Booyoung agreed to build within the complex and transfer to the U.S. government as a public contribution. The site, located between Ichon Station and Sinyongsan Station, was formerly used as a U.S. military base. Booyoung purchased it from the Ministry of National Defense in 2014 and has been pursuing a housing project there since 2020. A plan for 997 units in buildings of up to 36 floors cleared the Seoul city government's architectural review in 2024 and broke ground, but design standards for the embassy staff housing to be contributed have held it up. The U.S. government has continued to request that its own counterterrorism and security safety standards be applied, citing the special status of a facility with extraterritorial standing, and no common ground has been found with South Korea's housing law framework, which forms the basis for reviews by the Seoul city government and the Yongsan District Office.
The suspension has clouded the outlook for public sales that had drawn strong market interest. The Yongsan Asea Apartment project had been seen as one of the most anticipated offerings in Seoul's second-half sales market, with 847 units in a prime location to be sold to the general public. Expectations rose further after Chairman Lee voiced a strong commitment to normalizing the project and holding sales this year at a New Year press meeting in February. With Booyoung having submitted to the local government a suspension notice that specifies no resumption date, observers say the start of construction and public sales this year — as well as the February 2028 completion plan — will be pushed back indefinitely.
The setback also disrupts Booyoung Group's plan to grow into a comprehensive real estate development company through the Asea Apartment project along with its Ttukseom site in Seongsu-dong. That site, delayed for 17 years before being redesigned as a mixed-use complex, cleared the Seoul city government's architectural review last month and is expected to see construction resume this year. "Negotiations with the U.S. Embassy are a complex matter tied up with diplomatic coordination between the Korean and U.S. governments," an industry official said. "Depending on when approval of the third business plan revision comes through, the calculus for the entire project — including increases in project costs and the setting of sale prices — will change."