The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice analyzed 2016-2024 restoration orders for damaged greenbelt land and found Seoul completed only 27% of them. With the government planning to lift protection on damaged greenbelt to supply housing, critics say restoration should come before release.
According to the Kyunghyang Shinmun, the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) released data on restoration orders for development-restriction zones, or greenbelt, over the nine years from 2016 to 2024. It drew on replies to freedom-of-information requests from 66 of the 89 local governments with greenbelt land, including 13 in Seoul and 11 in Gyeonggi. Restoration orders issued for violations such as unauthorized construction and farming totaled 31,103.
광고 문의 · 300×250The damage is sizable. Unauthorized buildings and structures covered 1.49 million square meters (18,707 cases), and land damage and similar violations 2.708 million square meters (7,001 cases), which the paper likened to about 380 soccer fields. By region, Gyeonggi Province had 14,647 orders (47.1%) and Seoul 5,419, together about two-thirds of the total.
The Gap in Compliance and Fines
Overall, 76% of orders (23,592) were completed, but regional gaps were wide. Gyeonggi completed 11,344, or 77%, while Seoul completed 1,446, or 27%, short of even 30%. Non-compliance fines totaled 21,283 cases worth 82.85 billion won. In Seoul, 976 of 2,128 cases (46%) worth 10.8 billion won went unpaid and only 43 were referred for prosecution; in Gyeonggi, 455 of 3,501 cases (13%) worth 32.3 billion won were uncollected and 655 were referred.
Field problems also emerged. Orders often fail to reach the people concerned, and local enforcement staff are said to number just one or two. In Sampae-dong, Namyangju, four people occupied hillside land holding a 46-square-meter prefab house built in 1987 and added three prefab and container homes plus five steel sheds and animal pens. Namyangju considers all facilities over 400 square meters illegal but has been unable to untangle ownership or find an address.
Jin Hee-sun, an adjunct professor at Yonsei University and former Seoul deputy mayor, said government policy has not focused on restoring greenbelt, so local governments imposed minimal fines and rarely used forced execution. The CCEJ urged a rethink of the policy paradigm that treats damaged land as developable, and strict audits of how damage occurred and of managing agencies' prevention and restoration efforts. The government plans to lift protection on damaged greenbelt to boost housing supply, but the specific sites and volumes were not confirmed in this report.