The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice on Tuesday urged the Seoul city government to disclose how and why it changed height standards for the redevelopment of Sewoon District Zone 4, near Jongmyo Shrine in Jongno-gu.
The group said it filed a freedom-of-information request seeking internal review materials, reports, alternative-plan reviews and approval documents that would show the basis for raising height limits along Jongno and the Cheonggyecheon stream in Zone 4. It also filed an information request with the Seoul Housing & Communities Corp., known as SH Corp., seeking the reasons for an increase in design fees and the basis for calculating the total design cost.
According to documents including the "Sewoon 4 project implementation approval application" provided to the group by the office of Seoul Metropolitan Council member Lim Jong-guk, the redevelopment height was raised compared with the previously set building plan: along Jongno, from 54.3 meters to 98.7 meters; along Cheonggyecheon, from 71.8 meters to 144.9 meters. Citing a full redesign, the design fee was increased by 16.748 billion won, bringing the total to 52.083 billion won.
The group said the project had been pursued under height-management principles meant to protect the historic and cultural landscape near Jongmyo. It said a recent draft change to the district's redevelopment promotion plan loosened that system, raising concerns that principles for protecting views, scenery and cultural heritage near the shrine could be weakened.
It said the draft explains the height relaxation by citing measures such as securing open green space and providing more publicly accessible space than required, adding that the issue is not only how much taller buildings would be. The key question, it said, is what administrative judgments and procedures led to changes in long-standing management principles and whether preservation of the historic and cultural environment was sufficiently reviewed.
The group also said the design-fee increase tied to the height change is a key indicator of the financial burden of the plan revision, suggesting the decision could lead to substantial additional costs. It called for separate review not only on heritage preservation and landscape management but also on cost efficiency and accountability in project execution.
The group said the Seoul city government and SH Corp. should transparently explain to the public the grounds for the height relaxation, the process behind the plan change, the reasons for the design-fee increase, public contributions and measures to protect tenants. If they delay disclosure and avoid a responsible explanation, it said, suspicions of preferential treatment and public distrust will only grow.
On March 25, the group said the Sewoon 4 case accepted the risk of damaging the landscape near a World Heritage site by raising the floor-area ratio, creating a structure that allowed about 551.6 billion won in additional development gains. It urged authorities to immediately halt administrative procedures related to the high-rise, high-density plan near Jongmyo and to fully disclose how the floor-area ratio and height limits were relaxed and how public contributions were calculated.
A Seoul city document titled "Overview and progress by zone in the Sewoon District" shows that among the district's 34 zones, the floor-area ratio for 11 completed zones ranges from 660% to 940%, while seven zones under way were raised to 1,000% to 1,550%. An analysis of development gains from the floor-area ratio increase in Sewoon 4 put the figure at 551.57 billion won.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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