Residents in the Gwangmyeong–Siheung district are clashing over plans to form a livelihood cooperative. Some residents have organized an emergency response committee and are demanding that the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) step in to resolve the dispute.
On the 21st, reporting by Incheon Ilbo found that the Gwangmyeong–Siheung district is a third-phase new town planned across parts of Gwangmyeong and Siheung, covering 12,710,000㎡ (3.84 million pyeong), with development scheduled from 2022 through 2031.
Because this is a public project, residents who will lose their current homes are eligible to form livelihood cooperatives.
Under the Special Act on Public Housing, project implementers such as LH may award no-bid contracts to livelihood cooperatives that secure a majority of district residents as members for tasks including demolition and grave relocations. The law also requires implementers to give residents hiring priority for the jobs created during construction and stipulates that profits from commissioned projects be distributed to cooperative members as dividends.
In February, the Gwangmyeong–Siheung Representative Livelihood Cooperative officially launched and began holding information sessions for residents.
Reporters found that a separate, non-cooperative group has been soliciting residents to join its organization. The cooperative says this group has been misleading residents by implying they stand to receive large dividend payouts.
The cooperative says materials the other group presented at its own information sessions estimate demolition proceeds in the Gwangmyeong–Siheung district at about 100 billion KRW (approximately 75 million USD), and claim that if 60% of that amount were distributed across roughly 2,000 households, each household would receive about 30 million KRW (approximately 22,500 USD), or 60 million KRW (approximately 45,000 USD) if a majority of residents participate. The cooperative also accuses the group of exaggerated marketing, including pamphlets that promise building owners who join the group either 55% of the demolition contract payment with LH or 100% of the profits.
“We asked LH to correct these unverified claims that are confusing residents, but LH has stood by,” said Baek Su‑hyun, chair of the emergency committee.
The committee has also announced a demonstration. The emergency committee of the Gwangmyeong–Siheung Representative Livelihood Cooperative will hold a press conference in front of Gwangmyeong City Hall on the 22nd to demand that LH intervene actively.
LH says it is difficult for the agency to get directly involved.
An LH official said, “If we rebut or endorse a particular group’s promises or explanations, it could appear as if we support that group. Because this issue is sensitive among residents, LH worries that direct involvement could create misunderstandings.”
/Kim Young‑rae & Chu Jeong‑hyeon, reporters chu3636@incheonilbo.com
