Councilors slam posh residences amid public housing

The recent establishment of foreigner-only serviced apartments in the public housing district in Seocho, southern Seoul, has caused controversy, as it comes at the expense of low-income Korean residents.

Foreigner-only serviced residences with golf practice facilities will be built inside a public housing rental district in southern Seoul for low-income households.

The serviced apartments capable of accommodating 178 foreign households will open by 2013 with a variety of convenient facilities such as golf practice facilities and squash courts on the public housing district for apartments for about 3,000 low-income households, according to Seoul Housing Corp.

The residential area in Seocho-gu, Seoul, is just 200 meters away from the villages hit hard by the Mount Umyeon landslides caused by a heaving rain in late July.

City councilors have raised concerns about the plan to build two different kinds of housing within one residential district and about the sense of deprivation to be felt by low-income Korean residents in the district.

“Facilities such as a golf range may foster disharmony among residents,” said a Seoul Council member Joo Young-gil of the ruling Grand National Party at the briefing by SH Corp. officials on Monday.

Another Seoul Councilor, Kim Hyoeng-sik of the opposite Democratic Party was even blunter.

“I see no reason why foreign residence should be built inside the public housing district,” he said. “We need to see whether residents in public apartments can use the facilities.”

The serviced apartments for foreigners, located in the area with a commanding view of scenery near Mount Umyeon, will feature facilities such as a swimming pool, gym, golf range, squash courts and shuttle buses from nearby office areas to the residence, according to SH Corp.

The foreign residence in Umyeon is the second foreigners-only serviced apartments since the first, DMC Ville, opened in 2008 in Sangam-dong, northern Seoul. High-income foreigners with professional jobs live in DMC Ville, mostly short-term or mid-term.

“The DMC Ville has gained popularity among foreigners, with occupation rate reaching about 95 percent. Because Seoul does not have enough small to mid-sized accommodation for foreigners, construction of serviced residences for them is a necessary project,” said an SH Corp. official.

Critics say, though, that while DMC Ville stands in the sole residential district, the Umyeon foreign residence takes up a certain part of the public housing bloc for ordinary Koreans.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)