The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
  • Hangzhou Asian Games
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
  • Hangzhou Asian Games
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    INTERVIEWAhn Hyo-seop wanted to share dedicated love with 'A Time Called You'

  • 3

    SHINee launches first Japan tour in 5 years

  • 5

    Korea makes last-ditch bid to host World Expo 2030 in Busan

  • 7

    Heavy traffic jams mostly eased on 5th day of holiday

  • 9

    Consumers to face higher prices for daily necessities after Chuseok

  • 11

    Samsung chief visits Middle East to explore new businesses

  • 13

    Korea picks up 2 medals in table tennis as gold drought continues

  • 15

    Ruling party vows to investigate China's alleged influence operations

  • 17

    Shin-Hanul No. 2 nuclear reactor begins testing for full operation next year

  • 19

    4 injured in rockfall at tourist attraction on eastern island of Ulleung

  • 2

    Korea's Coast Guard apprehends 22 Chinese after illegal entry attempt

  • 4

    Distraught roller skater apologizes for costly premature celebration

  • 6

    S. Korea wins 1st table tennis gold in 21 yrs

  • 8

    Public transit fares to increase in Seoul and Busan this week

  • 10

    LA-based photographer captures Koreatown unfazed by pandemic

  • 12

    No regrets for roller skaters after taking silver in relay

  • 14

    National Assembly speeds up efforts to outlaw dog meat consumption in Korea

  • 16

    'Dr. Cheon and Lost Talisman' tops Chuseok holiday box office

  • 18

    Internet-only banks outperform legacy lenders in labor productivity

  • 20

    Genesis GV80 Coupe looks to compete with Mercedes-Benz, BMW

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
Wed, October 4, 2023 | 19:34
Society
Sejong City apartments turn into 'jackpot' for gov't workers
Posted : 2021-05-25 09:35
Updated : 2021-05-25 16:19
Yoon Ja-young
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
Apartment buildings around the government complex in Sejong City / Korea Times file
Apartment buildings around the government complex in Sejong City / Korea Times file

By Yoon Ja-young

A special housing supply program for government workers relocating to Sejong City has turned into a "jackpot," guaranteeing them hundreds of millions of won in profit. Amid a backlash from other Sejong City residents who are suffering from soaring housing prices, the government is facing pressure to thoroughly overhaul the program.

The relocation of the central government to Sejong City started in 2012, aiming at promoting balanced growth between regions in the country where half of the population live in and around the capital. The prime minister's secretariat, and the finance and land ministries were among the first to relocate, and relocation is still ongoing with the small businesses ministry scheduled to move to Sejong in August.

To encourage government officials to move there and to offer a stable housing, the government introduced a special program for its employees. It made construction companies allocate a certain portion of their new apartments only for government workers who wanted to buy apartments in Sejong. Among 97,000 apartment units supplied over the past 10 years, government workers bought 26 percent as a result.

The special program wasn't considered a huge incentive back then. As the city was built hastily on agricultural land, it lacked infrastructure. Government workers who were "early settlers" in Sejong recall that they had called it "Seberia," a portmanteau of Sejong and Siberia.

"When I first moved to Naseong-dong in Sejong, there was only one small supermarket where I could go grocery shopping. I had to drive to Daejeon for medical services. We were reluctant to move to Sejong, and the special housing program was not considered a merit back then," said a government official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport who moved to Sejong with her husband in 2012.

Sejong apartments were not really popular, and construction companies were sometimes left with dozens of units unsold after their initial sales. Some new apartments were even sold below the original price set by the companies. A November 2014 list of apartments for sale in Sejong City shows a 96-square-meter apartment in Areum-dong offered for sale at 7 million won below the initial sales price set by the construction company.

Regardless of the housing price, the grand construction plans went on, and now Sejong City has most of the infrastructure it needs. Chungnam National University built a hospital in Sejong and the city has retail outlets such as Emart and Homeplus as well as Costco.

The ruling party's plan to complete Sejong City as an administrative capital has led to expectations that the city will be developed even further. It plans to move the National Assembly to Sejong, and this symbolic move coupled with the nationwide housing market overheating last year pulled up housing prices. Sejong apartment prices which had been stagnant until 2019 gained 42 percent last year, the highest growth nationwide. Since the government put a price cap on initial sales by construction companies, however, the special program guaranteed hundreds of millions of won right away.

Apartment buildings around the government complex in Sejong City / Korea Times file
A show home used by a construction company to sell apartments in Sejong City is crowded with people in this 2017 May file photo. Government workers, meanwhile, could easily purchase new apartments in Sejong through a special supply program. Yonhap

Loopholes in special supply program

While the special supply program was aimed at inducing government workers to move to Sejong, it wasn't mandatory until recently for them to actually live in the new apartments they purchased.

Some government workers thus only profited from the rising housing prices there while still residing in Seoul. This was especially so for high-ranking officials as many of them chose to keep their family and home in Seoul and commute to Sejong, for diverse reasons such as children's schools and spouses' jobs.

According to the government filing on assets of high ranking officials, Park Jin-kyu, vice minister of Industry, Trade and Energy, sold his 111-square-meter Sejong apartment for 1.29 billion won. He made around 900 million won before tax, as he bought the apartment for less than 400 million won from the construction company.

Hwang Suk-tae, deputy minister of the Living Environment Policy Office at the Ministry of Environment, also sold his 98-square-meter Sejong apartment for 1.35 billion won last year, and is estimated to have made nearly 1 billion won before tax.

Both of them sold their Sejong apartments after Cheong Wa Dae strongly recommended high ranking officials to own only one home.

The special housing supply program has also caused conflicts between generations within the government. Some ministries that were first to relocate to Sejong are not subject to the special program anymore as years have passed since they moved. Young employees hired recently by these ministries are thus not eligible for the special program, and they are having to get housing on their own in a city where housing prices have skyrocketed.

Some real estate market experts say it is time to overhaul the special supply program.

"It was introduced to provide stable housing for government workers relocating to Sejong and other rural areas, but I don't understand why they should be guaranteed to purchase homes. They can get stable housing through rental homes as well," said Kim Jun-hyung, a professor of real estate at Myongji University.

"It led inevitably to speculation as they were made to purchase homes instead of leasing them. Government workers who want to buy an apartment can use the regular subscription system just like other people."


Emailyjy@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
wooribank
LG
Top 10 Stories
1Public transit fares to increase in Seoul and Busan this week Public transit fares to increase in Seoul and Busan this week
2Ruling party vows to investigate China's alleged influence operations Ruling party vows to investigate China's alleged influence operations
3Genesis GV80 Coupe looks to compete with Mercedes-Benz, BMW Genesis GV80 Coupe looks to compete with Mercedes-Benz, BMW
4Korean steelmakers on alert over initiation of EU carbon border tariff Korean steelmakers on alert over initiation of EU carbon border tariff
5Korean shipbuilders seek lead over Chinese rivals in selling LNG carriers to Qatar Korean shipbuilders seek lead over Chinese rivals in selling LNG carriers to Qatar
630 out of 74 major financial companies lack female board member 30 out of 74 major financial companies lack female board member
7Hyundai, Kia to extend earnings rally on strengthening dollar, solid sales Hyundai, Kia to extend earnings rally on strengthening dollar, solid sales
8Lawmakers want chairmen of financial firms held accountable over misconduct Lawmakers want chairmen of financial firms held accountable over misconduct
9Dong-A Socio Group’s honorary chairman passes away at 96Dong-A Socio Group’s honorary chairman passes away at 96
10Returning home from Chuseok holiday Returning home from Chuseok holiday
Top 5 Entertainment News
1TREASURE takes flak for excluding Dokdo from its Japan tour map TREASURE takes flak for excluding Dokdo from its Japan tour map
2Two artists' windows to light and serenity Two artists' windows to light and serenity
3Crime thriller, romance series set to roll out in October Crime thriller, romance series set to roll out in October
4Korean literature featured as animation works at Incheon Airport Korean literature featured as animation works at Incheon Airport
5[PHOTOS] Kep1er returns with 'Magic Hour' to mesmerize fans PHOTOSKep1er returns with 'Magic Hour' to mesmerize fans
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group