2023 Urban Redevelopment in South Korea: New Law Increases Public Project Floor Area Ratio to 390%!
Daniel Kim Views
The National Assembly’s Land and Transport Committee convened for a full meeting on the 10th.
▲ On the 10th, a full meeting of the National Assembly’s Land and Transport Committee was held at the National Assembly.
During the session, the committee approved an amendment to the Urban and Residential Environment Improvement Act. This change allows public entities like the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) to increase the floor area ratio for redevelopment and reconstruction projects up to 1.3 times the legal limit.
Currently, public redevelopment projects have a maximum floor area ratio of 360% in general residential areas, which is 1.2 times the legal limit. Public reconstruction projects are capped at 300%, or 1.0 times the limit.
The new amendment proposes to raise these limits to a maximum of 390%.
Notably, private redevelopment projects are excluded from this increase, signaling a preference for public sector initiatives.
This legislation is a follow-up to the government’s housing supply measures announced last year and was prioritized for the February special session of the National Assembly.
Due to delays in the subcommittee’s review process, the bill was presented directly to the full committee without a subcommittee decision.
The committee also passed an amendment to the Real Estate Transaction Reporting Act, expanding the Land Minister’s authority to designate land transaction permission zones. This too was approved under the ruling party’s leadership without a subcommittee decision.
Current law only allows the Minister to designate these zones in areas spanning multiple provinces. The amendment extends this authority to single local government areas, such as Seoul.
Lee Jong-wook, an opposition member from the People Power Party, criticized the process: “Regardless of party lines, it’s our duty as lawmakers to protect citizens’ property rights from potential administrative overreach. We should have at least reviewed the subcommittee’s findings before bringing this to a full vote. This approach jeopardizes our committee’s integrity.”
In response, Bok Gi-wang of the ruling Democratic Party defended the decision: “We’ve repeatedly requested subcommittee meetings to no avail. It was time to act. We didn’t make this decision unilaterally; we consulted with the previous subcommittee chair and ensured a thorough exchange of viewpoints.”
In other business, the committee voted to request an audit from the Board of Audit and Inspection regarding delays in the supply of Seoul Metro Line 5 trains. This audit will involve Seoul City, Gyeonggi Province, Korea Railroad Corporation, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
The committee also resolved to file a complaint against Park Sun-soon, CEO of Daewon Systems, the rail vehicle manufacturer responsible for the delays, for alleged violations of laws related to aggravated punishment for specific economic crimes (fraud).
Additionally, they decided to file a perjury complaint against former Vice Minister of Land Kim O-jin, following an official request from the Special Prosecutor investigating Kim Keon Hee.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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