Stunned After Spending 75.5 Billion Won... Outcry Over JYP's New Headquarters Site

As JYP Entertainment pushes forward with plans to build its new headquarters in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, residents have launched collective action after a plot of land originally slated for a park directly in front of the new building was rezoned to allow office and commercial facilities.

JYP is also reviewing countermeasures as there is even a possibility that it may need to alter the design of its new headquarters.

The "Residents' Solidarity for Protecting the Park in Front of JYP's New Headquarters" is currently gathering online signatures demanding that the Autonomous Plot 8 in the Godeok-Gangil District be reverted to park land.

The disputed land is a plot of approximately 13,000 square meters in Godeok-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, owned by the Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH).

It faces the land purchased by JYP for its new headquarters, separated by just a single road.

In October 2023, JYP purchased a headquarters site measuring approximately 10,000 square meters from SH for 75.5 billion won.

At that time, Autonomous Plot 8 right across from the new headquarters was zoned as neighborhood park land.

JYP reportedly reflected this in the design of its new headquarters, expecting a park to be built there.

However, in December 2024, about one year and two months after JYP purchased the land, SH applied to change the designation of this land from a neighborhood park to a self-sufficient functional facility site, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport approved the revision in October of last year.

Autonomous functional facility sites can accommodate not only office buildings, factories, and research institutes, but also hotels, exhibition halls, and commercial facilities.

JYP, which had drafted its design on the premise of a park, stated that it is "reviewing countermeasures from various angles," keeping even the possibility of scrapping the new headquarters project in mind.

In addition, residents in Gangdong-gu have risen in protest, claiming that the designation of the land planned for a park was changed without sufficient collection of opinions.

Residents are demanding that the land be returned to park use and that a public hearing be held.

As complaints poured in, the Gangdong-gu Council ultimately decided to conduct a legal review to see if the zoning change can be reversed.

SH, the landowner, maintains that the zoning change was inevitable to secure funding for obtaining school sites.

If the matter leads to a legal dispute between JYP and SH in the future, key issues are expected to include whether there was an agreement regarding the creation of a park across the street in the two parties' land sales contract, and when SH began reviewing the zoning change.

Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Seo Byeong-wook | Design by Lee Su-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.