On the afternoon of the 3rd in Eungbong-dong, Seongdong District, Seoul. After crossing Eungbong Bridge toward Seoul Forest in Seongsu-dong, several excavators inside the construction site were tirelessly scooping up soil. They were carrying out a remediation operation to remove contaminated soil beneath the torn-up concrete floor.
This is the Sampo Remicon site (28,804㎡), which operated for 45 years from 1977 until its demolition in 2022. It borders Seoul Forest and runs along the Jungnang Stream, with three sides facing roads. In the real estate industry, it is called a "golden site."
At one time, Hyundai Motor Group sought to build its headquarters on the site, but the plan fell through. This place, which had been a burden for the Seoul Metropolitan Government, is resuming redevelopment after 10 years. A person identified as A, who runs a certified real estate agency in Seongsu-dong, said, "The (development) was halted for far too long," and added, "If it is properly developed, it could become a landmark of Seoul beyond Seongsu-dong."
◇ Growth deferred 10 years ago… missed chance to balance Gangnam and Gangbuk
Seongsu once drew expectations that a "Hyundai Motor era" would open. In 2006, then-Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak proposed the transfer of the headquarters to Hyundai Motor Group, and in 2009, Mayor Oh Se-hoon selected the Sampo site as a negotiation target. The plan was to build a 110-story supertall global headquarters tower with a goal of completion in 2016 and grow the Seongsu area into a mixed work-residential district.
However, in 2014, the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon codified a height limit of around 35 stories along the Han River through the "2030 Seoul Plan," putting the project on sudden hold. The plan premised on a supertall lost momentum, and Hyundai Motor officially withdrew the Seongsu transfer plan in September of the same year. Local sentiment, which had anticipated the economic impact of 20,000 high-income people moving in, could not hide its disappointment.
Some argue it is difficult to see the height regulation alone as the cause of the project's collapse. At the time, the Sampo site lacked preparations such as plans to handle traffic burdens for a large-scale office facility and surrounding development. Still, it is hard to deny that changes in local government regulations influenced the judgment of corporations.
After the failed bid to attract Hyundai Motor's headquarters, the gap between Gangnam and Gangbuk deepened. In September 2014, Hyundai Motor purchased the former Korea Electric Power Corporation headquarters site in Samseong-dong, Gangnam District, for 10.55 trillion won. The company initially envisioned a 105-story supertall building but, after consultations with the city, adjusted it to three 49-story towers. In effect, more than 10 trillion won in capital left Seongsu for Gangnam.
Home prices in Samseong-dong and nearby areas, including Jamsil-dong in Songpa District, then climbed steeply, and the area was designated a land transaction permit zone in 2020. By contrast, the Seongsu Strategic Reorganization Zone, designated in 2009 with a 2011 plan for up to 50 stories and 8,247 households, failed to gain speed for more than a decade due to the scrapped Hyundai Motor transfer and the 35-story cap.
Mayor Oh Se-hoon recently said, "If we had proceeded under the original negotiations, we could have secured about 2 trillion won in public contributions." The public contributions secured through development of the Sampo site currently stand at about 600 billion won. This is why critics say an opportunity for balanced development in Gangbuk instead led to further concentration in Gangnam.
◇ The "Silicon Valley on the Han River" experiment… shifting to a live-work-play city
The drifting Sampo site began a full-fledged restart after 2021. After personally reviewing case studies in global cities such as Dublin, London and New York, Mayor Oh presented a blueprint to rebirth the Sampo site as a "Silicon Valley on the Han River."
The strategy is to build a future-oriented mixed-use business complex that concentrates global IT, media and tech (TAMI) corporations, unicorn startups and the cultural industry, transforming Seongsu from a consumption-centered city into an industry- and jobs-centered city.
Through the preliminary negotiation system introduced in 2008, the Seoul Metropolitan Government secured about 600 billion won in public contributions from Sampo. When developing a large site of 5,000㎡ or more, part of the development gains from an upzoning of land use are recouped. The Sampo site is cited as a flagship case of this system.
After an international design competition, the city began a complex development combining a supertall office facility, a large green axis, and cultural and commercial facilities. The target completion year is 2032. Alongside office facilities of roughly 77 to 79 stories above ground, a large K-pop–dedicated performance venue and a cultural plaza are planned. The plan also includes a three-dimensional pedestrian park linked to Seoul Forest, an underground pedestrian passage, low-rise green space, and opening the top-floor observatory.
In addition, the Seongsu Strategic Reorganization Zone, which handles the "residential and living infrastructure" axis of Seongsu's transformation, has recently entered the process of selecting builders, drawing assessments that it has entered full swing. A total of 9,000 units has secured its implementation basis, and procedures are becoming concrete as Seongsu Districts 1 and 4 have recently begun selecting builders.
This is an attempt to shift Seongsu's short-term consumption-driven commercial structure to a stay-type culture and tourism structure. If redevelopment of the strategic reorganization zone aligns with the creation of supertall office facilities, Seongsu could be reshaped into a combined "work (職)–residence (住)–leisure (樂)" city representing northeastern Seoul.
Experts say, "Seongsu is the space where Mayor Oh Se-hoon's urban strategy is most concentrated," and add, "The success or failure of the Sampo project will be a testbed for gauging Seoul's future urban model, beyond mere local development."