Tensions are rising across South Korea's first-generation new towns — Ilsan, Pyeongchon, Jungdong, and Sanbon — after an integrated redevelopment project at Yangji Village in Bundang hit setbacks, including the replacement of the trust company serving as project operator due to conflicts among property owners. Similar risks of delays loom in these areas, where clashes of interest between residents and complexes, along with disputes over project feasibility, persist. While the government has laid out a blueprint for the first-generation new town redevelopment plan calling for groundbreaking in 2027 and move-ins by 2030, critics point out that the nature of integrated redevelopment — with complex, intertwined interests across complexes — makes recurring conflicts highly likely during the project's execution.
Pyeongchon New Town is divided into a total of 20 designated special redevelopment zones. Currently, two zones — A-17 (Kkummaeul Kumho, Hanshin, Life, and Hyundai) and A-18 (Kkummaeul Woosung, Kunyoung 5, and Dong-Ah Kunyoung 3) — have been designated as pilot special redevelopment districts. In contrast, Zone A-7 has long been stuck in a stalemate over integrated redevelopment discussions. The zone is being pursued by bundling the Sunkyong 1, Dong-Ah 8, Kyungnam 8, and Shindongah 9 complexes, but differences of opinion among residents have proven difficult to narrow.
The conflict has intensified particularly as some residents of Sunkyong 1, which enjoys a prime location near a subway station, have raised the idea of pursuing standalone redevelopment. According to a redevelopment industry source on Tuesday, an integrated redevelopment committee has yet to be formed, and the 50 percent resident consent rate within the zone — required to apply for pilot district status — has not been met. At Shindongah 9, which draws high interest, the share of residents who have expressed intent to participate in integrated redevelopment is reported to stand at just 43.6 percent.
"Integrated redevelopment requires multiple complexes to move together, so coordinating opinions isn't easy," an official at a nearby real estate brokerage said. "Pursuing it as a large-scale project has advantages in terms of improving the residential environment and project feasibility, but in reality, progress is difficult because interests diverge."
The situation is similar in Ilsan New Town. In November 2024, four pilot redevelopment districts totaling roughly 9,000 units were selected, but they have yet to advance to the special redevelopment zone designation stage. Concerns over schedule delays are mounting as the projects have failed to gain momentum from the early stages. Meanwhile, four complexes in Ilsan New Town in Goyang City — Hugokmaeul 16 Dong-Ah Kolon, Hugokmaeul 9 LG Lotte, Gangseonmaeul 1 Daewoo Byuksan, and Munchonmaeul 3 Woosung — are reportedly preparing to pursue integrated redevelopment.
The move is interpreted as an effort to lay groundwork ahead of redevelopment, but concerns over integrated redevelopment persist. "As seen in the Yangji Village case in Bundang, unexpected variables can continue to arise even after a project has made considerable progress," an official at a brokerage serving the complexes said. "Since coordinating interests across complexes is the key to integrated redevelopment, the question is how many sites will actually progress to redevelopment zone designation this year."
