In February, the Seoul Facilities Corporation conducted a 'site-wide investigation' at 'Go To Mall,' an underground shopping center of the Seoul Express Bus Terminal. The corporation's employees personally visited each store, asking, 'Is the person currently operating the store the actual tenant?' to verify the information. Why did they carry out such an investigation? ChosunBiz reported.
◇'500 out of 620 stores illegally sublet... earning 3 million won a month without doing business'
According to the Seoul city authorities on the 9th, among the 620 stores in the underground shopping center of the Gangnam Express Bus Terminal located in Jamwon-dong, Seocho-gu, 500 are found to have different tenants and actual operators. This qualifies as 'illegal subletting.' While private facilities allow the borrower to sublet to others, public facilities prohibit subletting.
The owner of this shopping center is the city of Seoul, and the Seoul Facilities Corporation is entrusted with its operation. The Seoul Facilities Corporation in turn delegates the operation of the shopping center to Go To Mall Co., Ltd. The company collects rent from tenants under the guise of 'ancillary fees.'
Illegal subletting has been a practice ongoing for over 40 years since this shopping center began operations in the 1980s. Since store transactions cannot be made here, existing tenants transfer stores to next tenants for a premium of 500 million to 600 million won. New tenants can pay a deposit to the Seoul Facilities Corporation and become the rightful tenants.
Many cases have emerged of tenants not doing business themselves and illegally subletting to others. Tenants engaging in illegal subletting can earn income by charging the actual operators rent that exceeds what they should pay to the Seoul Facilities Corporation in ancillary fees.
One merchant said, 'The ancillary fee that a regular tenant pays to the Seoul Facilities Corporation is about 3.1 million won a month, but those actually operating in illegally sublet stores have to bear an additional 3 million won.' This indicates they are paying more than double the rent. Another merchant noted, 'Those with financial power can earn 3 million won a month through illegal subletting without doing any business.'
◇'Merchants actually operating bear double the rent, yet have no choice'
The employees of the Seoul Facilities Corporation confirmed for the first time with a 'site-wide investigation' that the tenants listed on the lease contracts matched the individuals actually operating the stores in the underground shopping center. While they have been receiving documents annually to understand the situation, it was difficult to verify the actual circumstances.
However, it is not easy to detect illegal subletting even with a site-wide investigation. A 70-year-old Mr. Kang, who operates a clothing store, said, 'The tenant demanded that I say I am an employee earning 700,000 won a month.'
Merchants who are actually operating in the stores bear additional burdens due to illegal subletting, but cannot report it to the Seoul Facilities Corporation or the city of Seoul. This is because if illegal subletting is confirmed, both the tenant and the actual operating merchant must be evicted.
Merchants argue that the city of Seoul, which owns the facility, must take action. Kim Jin-kyu, president of the Go To Mall Original Merchants Association, said, 'The city should create a local government ordinance to protect merchants.'
In response, an official from the Seoul Facilities Corporation stated, 'Merchants ask us to solve the illegal subletting issue, but they do not provide evidence to prove the illegality,' adding, 'Unless a legal mechanism to protect merchants is set up separately, it will be impossible to resolve the issues.' A representative from the city of Seoul also commented, 'Local governments do not have investigative authority concerning illegal subletting, which limits detection,' and noted, 'There are also no regulations to impose penalties other than contract termination when illegal subletting is exposed.'