The government has launched a pan-government task force for rapid innovation in land development sites to move up the start of construction for dwellings on public housing sites, including the third new towns. It is a pan-government consultative body centered on project-implementing agencies such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH), with related ministries participating. The aim is to simultaneously coordinate issues that delay projects—such as permits and approvals, environmental impact assessments, buried heritage surveys, and power line relocation—to shorten the time until dwelling construction begins.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and related agencies on the 27th, the pan-government task force for rapid innovation in land development sites was recently launched and held its first meeting. As President Lee Jae-myung has ordered a review of measures to cut the project period for the third new towns to half or less, inter-ministerial consultations to advance the start of construction on existing public housing sites are also expected to pick up speed.
The task force is a consultative body that coordinates project-specific issues blocking public housing site development at the pan-government level. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and LH serve as the core implementing agencies, and depending on the issue, related ministries and agencies such as the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, and the Korea Heritage Service participate.
The government will take up the integration and streamlining of permitting procedures and improvements to regulations that delay projects as agenda items for consultation. It will identify procedures among the sequential steps that can proceed in parallel and, if necessary, consider related institutional reforms.
An official at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said, "When carrying out land development projects, site-specific issues arise—such as power lines or cultural assets—that require collaboration with related ministries," adding, "The necessary ministries will participate for each issue to discuss solutions." An official at a land development implementing agency said, "The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) led the formation of the task force."
The launch of the task force reflects the assessment that delays in public housing site development are widening the gap between the government's released dwelling supply plans and the actual start of construction.
Public housing sites proceed to dwelling construction after district designation and compensation, development plan formulation, site preparation, and installation of infrastructure. In this process, agencies must consult not only on permits and approvals by local governments but also on environmental impact assessments, school installation, buried heritage surveys, contaminated soil remediation, and relocation of power lines and gas pipelines.
Until now, implementing agencies such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and LH have held individual consultations with ministries or agencies in charge of each issue. When opinions diverged between agencies, schedules were delayed as project plans were revised and consultations restarted.
Through the task force, the government plans to have multiple ministries review issues simultaneously to reduce duplicate consultations and plan changes. In particular, it is expected to intensively examine the causes of delays at public housing sites in the Seoul metropolitan area, including the third new towns where construction has been slow to start.
The president also pointed to delays in starting the third new towns at the "national grand debate on real estate policy" held at the KBS annex in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 23rd.
The president said, "Looking at the third new towns, delays in starting construction in areas already released are a very serious problem," adding, "They say it takes more than 60 months." He went on, "We are reviewing internally to cut it to half or less," and said, "If necessary, we will change the rules or run procedures in parallel that are currently sequential to reduce the time."