Rising Controversy Over Special Supply Apartments in Gwanggyo New City as Preferential Distribution Increases and Homeownership Dreams Shrink

"Owning my own home is my last lifelong dream. After 27 years as a salaried worker, I was trying to finally buy a house for the first time.... " With a long sigh, Choi, age 49, pulls out a cigarette from his pants pocket. Choi, who had been eagerly planning to secure his "own home" in Gwanggyo New City, known as the "lottery," was deeply disappointed by the recent repeated statements of Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo. This is because Governor Kim decided to give preferential supply of 10% of special supply units in Gwanggyo New City (1,128 square kilometers) to employees of a specific company and to provide special supply of approximately 1,600 units to civil servants without housing. The probability of Choi being able to receive a sales allocation has plummeted. Not only Choi, but the hopes of common people who desperately want to "own their own home" have also been dashed. As Governor Kim's statements have spread to become a "preferential treatment controversy," he again argues that local priority supply should be increased from the existing 30% to 50%, attracting attention. However, citizens are casting suspicious eyes, saying, "Isn't there another intention behind this?"

● Controversy Over Special Supply to Specific Companies and Civil Servants
"We plan to give preferential sales benefits to approximately 16,000 Samsung research institute employees in Suwon and others. We are following internal procedures, and we will enable research institute workers of local companies with long-term service or special corporate workers to be able to live in housing in that area."
On the 9th, at a township and administrative heads meeting held at the Suwon and Gyeonggi Small and Medium Business Support Center, Provincial Governor Kim Moon-soo made this statement.
This was not a "casual" remark. It came after the province, in February of the previous year, had already requested the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs to enable special supply of housing as required by city and provincial governors for attracting foreign investment and revitalizing the local economy. The related law reflecting this content (an amended ordinance in the rules concerning housing supply) was amended and announced for legislative notice.
Following the completion of the legislation amendment, the province began establishing criteria for selecting special sales targets considering years of service and those without housing. Accordingly, from now on, research institute employees of large corporations, along with the disabled and national merit holders, will also be able to receive special sales allocations.
Out of the total supply volume of Gwanggyo New City's 32,242 units, 1,120 units, which is 10% of 11,200 apartments of 85 square meters or less (excluding national rental housing and civil servant rental housing), falls to them.
Governor Kim explained the purpose, saying, "Currently, there are too few benefits not only for attracting foreign investment, but also for small and medium enterprises, 3D industry workers, and long-term service employees," and "for these people, some units of the 1,120 units should be specially considered."
In addition, 1,632 units (including 548 public rental units) also go to civil servants. This is because the Government Employees Pension Service specially receives 98,000 square meters of land for housing development in Gwanggyo New City through private contract and plans to provide special supply to civil servants without housing.
This volume corresponds to 5.3% of total supply volume and 21.9% of 7,450 special supply units.

"We plan to give preferential sales benefits to approximately 16,000 Samsung research institute employees in Suwon and others. We are following internal procedures, and we will enable research institute workers of local companies with long-term service or special corporate workers to be able to live in housing in that area." On the 9th, at a township and administrative heads meeting held at the Suwon and Gyeonggi Small and Medium Business Support Center, Provincial Governor Kim Moon-soo made this statement. This was not a "casual" remark. It came after the province, in February of the previous year, had already requested the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs to enable special supply of housing as required by city and provincial governors for attracting foreign investment and revitalizing the local economy. The related law reflecting this content (an amended ordinance in the rules concerning housing supply) was amended and announced for legislative notice. Following the completion of the legislation amendment, the province began establishing criteria for selecting special sales targets considering years of service and those without housing. Accordingly, from now on, research institute employees of large corporations, along with the disabled and national merit holders, will also be able to receive special sales allocations. Out of the total supply volume of Gwanggyo New City's 32,242 units, 1,120 units, which is 10% of 11,200 apartments of 85 square meters or less (excluding national rental housing and civil servant rental housing), falls to them. Governor Kim explained the purpose, saying, "Currently, there are too few benefits not only for attracting foreign investment, but also for small and medium enterprises, 3D industry workers, and long-term service employees," and "for these people, some units of the 1,120 units should be specially considered." In addition, 1,632 units (including 548 public rental units) also go to civil servants. This is because the Government Employees Pension Service specially receives 98,000 square meters of land for housing development in Gwanggyo New City through private contract and plans to provide special supply to civil servants without housing. This volume corresponds to 5.3% of total supply volume and 21.9% of 7,450 special supply units.

● Expansion of Local Priority Supply to 50%
In response to this news, applicants on the waiting list for Gwanggyo New City housing, civil society groups, and political circles all at once criticized the "preferential sales" allocation.
On the 16th of last month, the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice and the Democratic United Party, the main opposition party in the National Assembly, issued a statement urging the immediate halt of providing housing that should be distributed to socially vulnerable groups to the privileged class, citing the violation of fairness.
Meanwhile, on the 20th of last month, Governor Kim this time argued that local priority supply provided to local residents should be expanded from the existing 30% to 50%. Governor Kim said, "New cities are not being built to give to Seoul residents," and "the authority over housing supply should be held by the head of the relevant local government, not the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs."
Accordingly, the province plans to submit a request to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs for expanding local priority supply.
Out of 22,792 units for general supply, 30% (6,540 units) are designated as local priority supply, with Suwon accounting for 28.7% (5,764 units) and Yongin for 2.3% (786 units). The remainder is supplied for general use to Seoul metropolitan area residents (15,286 units) and low-income people without housing (956 units). If priority supply expands to the 50% range, the total would significantly increase to 11,396 units (Suwon 10,028 units, Yongin 1,368 units).
Applicants on the waiting list are welcoming the increase in local priority supply while remaining suspicious of the intention behind the statement.
Kim, age 42, from Maetan-dong said, "It is welcome that local residents are being given expanded priority supply," but questioned, "Isn't Governor Kim, who shows pro-business sentiment, doing this as a way to provide benefits to companies?"
There is also strong opposition from local governments and districts in the Seoul metropolitan area land development areas, such as Songpa New City. Songpa-gu recently submitted a petition opposing the rule amendment proposed by Gyeonggi Province to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

● Common People's Dreams of "Owning a Home" Receding... Companies Also "Hesitant"
Koreans who show an unusually strong attachment to "owning their own home." As it is known as a living space and the best means of increasing assets, Koreans attach special meaning to "owning a home."
Nevertheless, as the special supply units to be allocated to renters are decreasing, the dreams of common people to "own their own home" are increasingly receding. The disappointment can only be as great as the expectations placed on Gwanggyo New City.
An official from the Korean Confederation for Trade Unions stated, "The more special supply increases, the more the amount of apartments supplied to ordinary consumers like common people decreases," and urged "policy establishment and implementation to give hope to the livelihood of those suffering from housing insecurity." He added, "Housing welfare measures should not be evaluated with a management mindset."
Local companies are also not welcoming the preferential rights (?) benefits of Governor Kim.
A Samsung-related official, inadvertently caught up in the preferential treatment controversy, said, "In reality, we are receiving sales allocation only for small-sized apartments, and the volume is smaller than expected, so there is a question about how many research institute employees will actually reside even if special supply is provided."

1 in 4 Apartments is Special Supply Units Gwanggyo New City revealing its "luxury" image. As it attracts the interest and expectations of not only Seoul metropolitan area housing applicants but people from all over the country, all eyes are on the housing supply plan. According to Gyeonggi Province, from September this year through 2011, apartments to be supplied in Gwanggyo New City (1,128 square kilometers) consist of 19,670 units for general sales, 5,131 units of public rental housing, 3,809 units of national rental housing, 1,632 units from the Government Employees Pension Service, for a total of 30,242 units. Among these, 7,450 units are special supply units, meaning that 1 out of every 4 units of housing supplied is designated as special supply. 1,120 units (10%) are given preferential supply to those in 13 fields including national merit holders and North Korean defectors. Also included are contributors to local economic development such as research institute employees of specific companies, which has become controversial. Additionally, 744 units go to households without housing that have three or more children. Along with this, 1,101 units each of general sales and public rental housing, and 1,142 units of national rental housing are given preferential supply to low-income newlyweds without housing. 1,632 units are allocated to civil servants without housing. Besides these, a total of 1,142 units including demolition residents (380 units), the elderly and disabled (761 units), permanent rental evictees (190 units), and vinyl house residents (380 units) are supplied as national rental housing.