Booyoung Group Chairman Lee Joongkeun: “In talks over Asia Apartment ... Construction should resume”

[Financial News] Booyoung Group Chairman Lee Joongkeun said construction of the recently suspended Asia Apartment project “should resume.” This is the first time Lee has made an official statement on the suspension of construction at Asia Apartment.
Lee told a reporter in Seoul’s Jongno District on the 23rd, “The Yongsan District Office and Booyoung Group are probably discussing Asia Apartment.”
The project is a key Booyoung Group development that Lee has pledged to bring back on track within the year, and expectations are high for a general sale of units in the second half of this year. However, permitting has recently been delayed by a dispute over design standards for housing for staff of the U.S. Embassy in South Korea, which is being built within the complex.
In connection with this, the Yongsan District Office in Seoul recently published a notice submitted last month by Booyoung Housing, titled “Notice of Suspension of Construction for the New Asia Apartment Project in the Hangangno 3-ga Special Planning Zone.” According to the notice, construction at the site has been officially suspended since the 11th of last month.
The core issue is the design standards for housing for U.S. Embassy staff. Citing the special nature of facilities with extraterritorial status, the U.S. government has repeatedly called for its own standards for counterterrorism preparedness and security to be applied. However, these differ in some respects from the domestic housing law framework, and the dispute continues.
The permitting delays have also put the brakes on Lee’s pledge to begin sales within the year. Although the sale price for the complex has not yet been set, industry sources expect units with 84 square meters of exclusive floor area to be priced at between 2.0 billion and 2.5 billion won.
Meanwhile, Booyoung Group passed the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s architectural review for the project in 2024 and moved ahead with construction. The complex is planned to comprise 10 buildings, with three basement levels and up to 36 floors above ground, for a total of 997 units. Booyoung Group purchased the site from the Ministry of National Defense in 2020.
[email protected] Kwon Jun-ho Reporter