Residents are split over whether to convert Bongdam-eup in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi, to a dong-level unit. Bongdam-eup has grown into a new town-scale area with a population exceeding 110,000 thanks to large-scale housing site development, but it still maintains the eup system. Calls are growing to convert to a dong for reasons including rising home prices and administrative efficiency, while others argue that keeping the eup system is advantageous for maintaining the rural special admissions track for college and tax benefits.
As of Feb. 24, according to Hwaseong-si, Bongdam-eup's population was about 111,000 as of February this year, the second most among eups nationwide. It is classified as one of the largest eups in the country after Mulgeum-eup in Yangsan-si, South Gyeongsang (about 117,000).
Until the early 2000s, the population was around 20,000, but it surged after housing site development began around 2010. Following Bongdam Districts 1 and 2, where new town development has been concentrated, additional areas including the Bongdam 3 public housing district, Naeri district, and Hyohaeng district are being created, and the population is expected to exceed 200,000 within a few years, making it the largest eup in the country.
The issue is that despite this near-largest scale nationwide, the administrative unit is still maintained as an eup. Generally, an administrative dong is considered appropriate at a scale of 10,000 to 30,000 people, and Bongdam-eup far exceeds that. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety guidelines classify areas with populations of 50,000 or more as subject to division review, so Bongdam-eup is already at a stage where the need for division is being raised from an administrative efficiency standpoint.
In practice, residents have consistently argued for the need to split the eup, citing delays in administrative services and the burden of handling civil complaints. The issue gained momentum especially after Hyohaeng-gu in Hwaseong-si was launched in February, highlighting structural inefficiency in which the district chief and eup chief operate at the same Grade-4 level, leading to stronger demands to reorganize the administrative system into dong units.
Views differ over converting to a dong. If the eup is maintained, benefits such as the rural special admissions track for college, health insurance premium reductions, and property and capital gains tax exceptions can be retained, lowering living costs relatively. On the other hand, converting to a dong could accelerate the expansion of living infrastructure and the delivery of public services through more granular administrative units, and improve the city image, potentially leading to long-term residential value gains. As a result, home prices are being evaluated differently by residents between short-term easing of expense burdens and expectations of long-term value appreciation.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's actual transaction price disclosure system, as of April, actual transaction prices for major apartments in Bongdam are in the mid-to-high 500 million won range for 84 square meters of exclusive area, and in the mid-300 million won to mid-400 million won range for small and mid-size units.
An official at Hwaseong-si said, "The city recognizes the need to split Bongdam-eup, but there are no concrete plans to push it forward at this time," adding, "Residents are divided over issues such as the rural special admissions track and tax benefits, and related civil petitions are continuously being filed, so we are reviewing the matter carefully."