Hwaseong Special City to Launch Residential Accommodation Support Center from January 13

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park Chan-hyuk] Hwaseong Special City will establish a Residential Accommodation Support Center and begin operations from January 13.

The Hwaseong Residential Accommodation Support Center will be established within the Architecture and Policy Division of City Hall and will operate until December 2027.

Following the Korean Wave boom, the government introduced residential accommodations (hereinafter 'residential accommodations') in 2012 as demand for long-term lodging by foreign tourists increased. However, contrary to its original intent, residential accommodations were misused as illegal residential products, and although the government announced a 'prevention measure against illegal conversion of residential accommodations' in 2021, some facilities remain non-compliant to date.

The support plan for legal use of residential accommodations announced by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in October last year includes customized support measures that block new illegal conversions while allowing legal use of residential accommodations currently in use or under construction depending on regional and owner circumstances.

The city will send notices to residential accommodation owners and encourage them to register for lodging business or apply for use change by September, and plans to provide customized support including consulting for use conversion.

Seo Bung-gi, Director of the Architecture and Policy Division, stated, "We will actively support residential accommodation owners who have not yet registered for lodging business to utilize the consulting services for lodging business registration or converting to serviced residence use provided by the Residential Accommodation Support Center and use the facilities legally."