Suwon and Hwaseong Say "No" to General Sale of Rural Development Administration Site

A disagreement has emerged among Suwon City, Hwaseong City, and the Rural Development Administration (RDA) over the sale of the RDA's relocation site. While Suwon and Hwaseong are demanding land purchases for public facility construction, the RDA is pursuing general sales to secure relocation budgets, and attention is focused on what decision the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs will make regarding the site disposal plan.

According to the cities and the Ministry on the 29th, the Rural Development Administration, which confirmed its relocation to Jeollabuk-do by 2012, submitted a site disposal plan to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs last month.

The plan covers 4 million square meters of land belonging to the RDA and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in Suwon and Hwaseong, and includes details on preservable sites, sites to be sold, and sales methods.

The RDA is known to plan to sell approximately 3 million square meters of land through general sales to cover relocation costs and land acquisition costs for the Jeollabuk Innovation City.

However, Suwon and Hwaseong are opposed to general sales, citing concerns about haphazard development. They argue that if the RDA site, which is mostly green space, is sold to the general public, there is a greater possibility it will be developed into residential complexes, leading to rampant development.

Both cities are planning to purchase approximately 1.5 million square meters of RDA sites within their jurisdictions and develop them as public facilities. Suwon City plans to acquire 60,000 square meters of the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences' sericulture facility site in Mangpo-dong (including a 5,500 square meter library site) and land covering approximately 400,000 square meters of the Horticultural and Herbal Crop Research Institute located in Imok-dong, developing the area as residential, neighborhood parks, and educational facilities according to the city's planned mid-to-long-term urban development plan.

The city already confirmed approximately 79,000 square meters of land including the Mangpo-dong silkworm seed farm site (30,000 square meters), the Horticulture Research Institute (19,000 square meters), and the Livestock Research Institute (30,000 square meters) as neighborhood park sites and reflected them in the 2015 urban management plan.

Hwaseong City is also known to have proposed a plan to purchase 920,000 square meters including the Livestock Science Institute site and the National Agricultural University site in Bongdam-eup and develop it into a cultural arts complex with museums and performance halls concentrated in the area.

However, the RDA is arguing for general sales, claiming it would be difficult to secure relocation costs amounting to trillions of won if it were to sell 1.5 million square meters of land to local governments. Nevertheless, it has left open the possibility of selling certain sites separately if they are to be used for public purposes.

While there are differing views on the sales method, attention is focused on whose side the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs will take. The Ministry's opinion is actively reflected according to the "Special Act on the Regional Relocation of Public Institutions."

The Ministry is currently reviewing the appropriateness of land utilization methods for the site disposal plan submitted by the RDA. The Ministry grants priority purchase rights when local governments request land acquisition for public project purposes, and has a policy to cancel sales if public assets are used contrary to the original plan.

A city official said, "The Ministry will decide on the sales method, but it will not be able to completely ignore the region's urban planning concepts," adding, "We understand the RDA has accepted Suwon's utilization plan and included it in its plan."

Meanwhile, the Ministry confirmed and approved on December 31 last year the regional relocation plans of 27 public institutions that passed written deliberation by the Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development. Among the 27 relocating institutions, a total of 8 public institutions are relocating, including 6 institutions under the RDA in the Suwon region—the Rural Development Administration in Seoddun-dong, Gwonseon-gu, Suwon (to Jeollabuk)—and the National Tax Service Training Institute in Pajang-dong, Jung-gu (to Jeju), and the Regional Innovation Human Resources Development Institute (to Jeju). The confirmed 8 institutions' relocation sites alone cover 3 million square meters.