As Seoul City Hall and the Korea Heritage Service are in a head-on clash over the redevelopment of Sewoon District 4 across from Jongmyo in Seoul, a similar situation in Pungnap-dong, Songpa-gu, is beginning to stir.
According to the maintenance industry on the 16th, Pungnap Miseong Apartment, located inside the Pungnap Earthen Fortification in Pungnap-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, recently passed the designation of a maintenance zone and the decision on a maintenance plan for its reconstruction project at the subcommittee for delegated authority of the Seoul City Urban Planning Committee's fast-track integrated planning. This is the first among the apartments in the area. Under the maintenance plan, Pungnap Miseong Apartment will be redeveloped into 413 units with a floor area ratio of up to 250% and up to 23 stories. That is 138 units (50%) more than the existing 275 units.
Completed in 1985, Pungnap Miseong Apartment has a relatively low floor area ratio of 167% and drew attention for its proximity to the Han River. However, reconstruction was effectively difficult due to building regulations stemming from the Pungnap Earthen Fortification. Still, from March to July last year, it underwent a total of five cultural heritage reviews by the Korea Heritage Service and received conditional approval. The conditions were to conduct a trial excavation before breaking ground for the new apartments and to proceed with the project according to the submitted building plan.
The nearby Pungnap Geukdong Apartment is also drawing up a maintenance plan. Pungnap Geukdong Apartment, which spans 16,044 square meters, is slated to be transformed into 598 apartments in a building up to 40 stories. Its zoning is a Type 3 general residential area, with a statutory maximum floor area ratio of 300%, but by applying the "Transit-area New:Home" system, the ratio was raised to the statutory additional cap of 340%.
In the maintenance industry, expectations are growing that as these apartments take their first steps toward reconstruction, maintenance projects across Pungnap-dong will pick up speed. In Pungnap-dong, artifacts were discovered at the Pungnap Earthen Fortification, a Baekje-era rampart, prompting the Korea Heritage Service to impose building regulations, and development in the area has been effectively halted for more than 20 years. Digging more than 2 meters underground is prohibited, and there is also a restriction allowing buildings to rise only within a 27-degree angle of elevation from the cultural heritage boundary.
As a result, there have been continued criticisms that the residential environment in Pungnap-dong has worsened and residents' property rights are being infringed. In the past, during the reconstruction of the Gyeongdang Row Houses, the project was delayed due to cultural heritage excavations, leading the developer and residents to the point of intentionally damaging cultural heritage. In fact, home price growth in Pungnap-dong was relatively weak. In Songpa-gu, the rate rebounded from 0.60% in 2023 to 8.10% in 2024, but Pungnap-dong went from minus (-) 5.94% to -1.06%, the only area in Songpa-gu where the decline continued.
Specifically, the Pungnap-dong area is divided into five zones. Zones 1–2 are preservation zones where resident relocation is being pursued, and Zone 3 allows small-scale dwellings maintenance projects but has height limits because it preserves Baekje cultural layers. Pungnap Miseong Apartment corresponds to Zone 4 inside the Pungnap Earthen Fortification, where there are many apartments that have nearly reached the reconstruction threshold, including Hangang Geukdong (completed in 1995), Donga Hangaram (1995), and City Geukdong (1998). With the reconstructions of Pungnap Miseong Apartment and Geukdong Apartment entering full swing one after another, projections are that nearby remaintenance projects will gain momentum.
A maintenance industry official said, "Seoul is pushing legislation for a 'floor area ratio transfer system' with a target of next year, which would allow unused floor area ratios, such as for cultural heritage preservation, to be transferred to places with development capacity, and Pungnap-dong is also a strong beneficiary," but added, "This area has complex land rights relationships, raising questions about feasibility, so caution is needed."