"Of the 200 owners who were waiting for redevelopment, more than 50 have died. Those still with us have lost even their rental income after tenants moved out, and the wait keeps getting longer."
Kim Jong-gil, chairman of the Sewoon District 4 residents' representative council, described the toll of the long delay in an interview with The Seoul Economic Daily on the 18th. Twenty-two years have passed since the council was formed in 2004, and many owners have reached old age, yet the site remains empty land three years after demolition was completed. More recently, deliberations on how to preserve buried heritage have been shelved one after another amid disagreement between the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Korea Heritage Service over the impact on views near Jongmyo Shrine, leaving the groundbreaking date uncertain.
On the 16th, the council sent an appeal to members of the buried heritage subcommittee of the Korea Heritage Committee, asking them to conclude the preservation review promptly. According to Kim, owners took out loans of 200 million to 300 million won, and in some cases up to 1 billion won, depending on the size of their stakes, about 20 years ago as the project was getting under way, and have been carrying the interest ever since. They had expected to repay the debt as soon as the project was finished. "Some could not keep up with the interest and left after taking a cash settlement," he said. "This was a project we once expected to be completed by now, and the goal has become simply breaking ground."
Financing costs are also piling up at the project level. About 800 billion won has been spent on Sewoon District 4, including compensation for building demolition and cash settlements. Interest on 650 billion won of that amount runs about 1.4 billion won a month, or 16.8 billion won a year.
In the neighboring Sewoon District 2, which was hit just as hard by the review of the surrounding views, the immediate concern is the safety of aging buildings. A merchant surnamed Kim, in his 60s, who has run a business there for 20 years, said water often leaks in on days of heavy rain. "Both the building owners and the tenants waiting for redevelopment are in no position to spend large sums on repairs," the merchant said. "We have reached the limit of patching things up." Lee Young-geun, head of the Sewoon District 2 preparatory committee, said the timber inside some tile-roofed houses has rotted and termites have appeared, with a serious effect on quality of life. "There was also a fire in January last year, but there was no fire access road, so there was no way for fire trucks to get in," he said. He stressed again that the area is designated for multi-unit housing. "There is no plan to build 40 stories or higher here, and the work will be done in a way that takes the surrounding views into account, so we ask that this be considered," he said.
The city is pursuing the redevelopment by expanding green space and public facilities in return for securing the project's viability. For Sewoon District 4, buildings are to rise higher with a lower building-to-land ratio, creating about 13,000 square meters of open green space. The Korea Heritage Service, by contrast, holds that a heritage impact assessment is needed to examine how the height changes would affect the historic setting of Jongmyo Shrine and its value as a World Heritage site. Deliberation on the buried heritage preservation plan for District 4 was postponed in August on the grounds that a new review was required after changes to the implementation plan were confirmed, and again in September because a field survey was needed on where and how to preserve the excavated remains.
Residents are asking that the dispute over building heights be separated from the review of the preservation plan for the remains. The council said it has completed a detailed excavation survey of a site of about 31,000 square meters and has drawn up plans for an exhibition space, reducing commercial floor area to preserve features such as a gateway and drainage channels. "We are asking that the preservation plan we submitted be reviewed on its own terms," Kim said. "The property rights and the minimum quality of life of residents must not be threatened any longer."