The government will move up the groundbreaking schedule for major public housing districts, including the third new towns, by one to two years and pursue legal revisions to shorten procedures for redevelopment and reconstruction projects. It will cut highway rest area tenants' rent as a share of sales from an average 33% to 8–9% to prompt lower food prices. It will also revise the system so an enforcement fine can be imposed if an apartment complex arbitrarily closes a public pedestrian passage.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said on the 16th that it reported these core policy tasks to President Lee Jae-myung. The briefing was attended by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), the National Agency for Administrative City Construction, the Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency, and 10 affiliated public institutions. Related ministries, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, also took part.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) set national land spatial reorganization, crackdowns on illegal and expedient acts, and improvements to everyday systems as the "four major reforms." Housing stability and inclusive growth, transportation innovation, and future growth will also be pursued as four major strategies.
◇ Groundbreaking for third new towns shortened by 1–2 years
To speed up housing supply, the groundbreaking schedules for major districts, including the third new towns, will be moved up by one to two years from the original plans. It will also push to revise the Urban Renewal Act to strengthen relocation support for redevelopment projects and streamline administrative procedures.
It will prepare measures to lower construction costs by adjusting contributed acceptance requirements or the scale of community facilities that local governments demand during redevelopment. It will establish a legal basis to impose an enforcement fine if a multifamily housing complex closes a public pedestrian passage it had agreed to open at the time of permitting.
In urban areas with convenient transportation, it will supply a new type of public rental dwellings where young people and the middle class can live long-term. To support victims of jeonse fraud, in Nov. it will implement minimum deposit guarantees and a prepayment-postsettlement system, and in Sept. it will provide a pan-government risk assessment service through the Safe Jeonse app.
To support victims of jeonse fraud, in Nov. it will implement minimum deposit guarantees and a prepayment-postsettlement system and will organize a dedicated unit and revise subordinate regulations. Starting in Sept., it will provide a pan-government jeonse risk assessment service through the Safe Jeonse app. It will also push to introduce "Safe Trust," under which a trusted institution manages tenants' deposits.
◇ Rest area rent from 33% to 8–9%
Highway rest areas will change their multi-tiered contracting structure that runs from the Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC) to intermediary operators to in-store tenants. A public management company will be established to contract directly with tenants, and average rent as a share of sales will be lowered from 33% to 8–9%. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) expects the reduced rent burden to lead to lower food prices and better service.
For high-speed rail, by Sept. it will pursue cross-operations of KTX and SRT and integration of the reservation and ticketing systems. Based on this, it also plans to proceed with the integration process of KORAIL and SR. To ease train shortages, it will refurbish 280 aging cars by 2028 and place orders for 184 new cars next year.
At Incheon Airport, short-term parking spaces were increased by 2,715, from 5,441 to 8,156. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) plans to secure more than 7,000 additional spaces by 2033.
◇ Expanding regional infrastructure centered on "five hubs, three specials"
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) will pursue a balanced development policy centered on five mega-regions and three special autonomous regions, dubbed "five hubs, three specials." It will build corporate-type advanced cities to back large national projects and develop the former site of the Gwangju military airport as a semiconductor industry hub for the Honam region.
It will also release a plan within this year to raise the regional share of investment in transportation infrastructure such as roads, rail, and airports. It will push construction of the new airports on Gadeokdo, in Daegu-Gyeongbuk, and in Saemangeum, and promote projects to invigorate regional airports.
For Sejong Administrative City, it will pursue creation of a symbolic district and enactment of a special administrative capital law. In Saemangeum, it will attract robotics, hydrogen, and artificial intelligence corporations to strengthen the advanced industry base.
◇ Intensive crackdowns on illegal real estate acts
In the dwellings market, it will focus crackdowns on five major illegal and expedient acts, including collusion among brokers, corruption by redevelopment association officials, violations of owner-occupancy obligations, holdout tactics, and small-scale equity splitting.
For used cars, it will mandate displaying total prices including various fees and will strengthen vehicle performance inspection standards and seller warranty responsibility. For auto insurance, if patients with minor injuries receive treatment beyond eight weeks, a specialist will be required to review the appropriateness.
At construction sites, to prevent delays in subcontract payments, it will mandate a system where the client pays directly, and it will step up crackdowns on paper companies with no construction capability. It will also push to make the safe freight rates system for cargo trucks permanent and expand the covered items.
◇ Expanding Everyone's Card to teenagers… aiming to commercialize UAM in 2028
The public transit fare support program "Everyone's Card" will be linked to local governments' free-ride cards and expand refunds to teenagers. It will expand quasi-publicly operated metropolitan bus routes and increase demand-responsive metropolitan buses whose routes vary based on passenger calls.
It will establish a system to designate as essential the express and intercity bus routes that must be maintained even with low ridership. It will also push to enact a separate law to strengthen the mobility rights of transportation-vulnerable people. It will build a system that allows foreigners to pay domestic public transit fares directly with overseas credit cards.
To foster the Autonomous Driving industry, this year it will deploy 200 autonomous vehicles in the Gwangju demonstration city. Starting in Oct., it will pilot electric vehicle battery leasing, in which the battery is separated from the vehicle and rented.
For urban air mobility (UAM), it will prepare trial operation plans with a goal of commercialization in 2028. It will also enact a special law to support the operation of indoor and outdoor delivery robots. For modular public dwellings, in which major structures are produced in factories and assembled on-site, it plans to raise orders to around 3,000 units, three times last year's level.
Minister Kim Yun-duk of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said, "We will deliver tangible results for the public in balanced development, housing stability, public safety, transportation innovation, and future growth."