A practice known as blanket eviction — filing eviction suits against every household in a project area the moment relocation begins — is spreading quickly across major rebuilding and redevelopment sites in Seoul. The aim is to prevent the heavy financing and project costs that a handful of delayed households can trigger amid high interest rates and surging construction expenses. Critics say the approach drags households that are already preparing to leave voluntarily into litigation, fueling unnecessary legal disputes and anxiety.
The redevelopment association for Bukahyeon District 2 in Seoul's Seodaemun district, which will transform the Bukahyeon neighborhood into a 2,320-unit complex, plans to send notices saying it will file eviction suits against all residents and occupants in the area, along with injunctions barring occupants from transferring or subletting their units to someone else while the suits are pending, according to the redevelopment industry on the 16th. Relocation is set to begin Nov. 9.
The association said it will immediately withdraw suits against households that vacate within the voluntary relocation period and will not seek legal costs from them. Households that stay beyond the deadline, however, will be held liable for damages as well as the costs of court-ordered enforcement.
The reconstruction association for Daekyo Apartments, the first project in the Yeouido redevelopment zone to begin relocation, has taken a similar approach. Relocation will run for six months from the 1st of next month, and the association will file eviction suits against all association members and tenants at once, along with injunctions barring them from transferring or subletting their units to someone else while the suits are pending. Households that miss the deadline will bear financing costs and construction cost increases, as well as complex management fees incurred after the relocation period ends.
The practice gained momentum last month when Eunma Apartments in Daechi, Gangnam district, embraced it. The 4,424-unit complex, which is targeting relocation in the first half of next year, drew attention when it said it would preemptively file eviction suits, injunctions barring tenants from transferring or subletting their units to someone else while the suits are pending, and damages claims against all tenants immediately after receiving project implementation approval.
Industry officials see blanket eviction as a tool to shorten relocation periods at a time when major Seoul rebuilding and redevelopment sites are all racing against the clock. Even if thousands of households move out, a small number holding out to the end can delay demolition and groundbreaking, leaving all association members to absorb higher financing and construction costs.
"There have been plenty of projects in the past where demolition took more than a year because a few households out of thousands were slow to move, and the cost fell on every member of the association," one industry official said. "With the base rate rising again, many members agree that cutting time is the way to minimize financing costs."
Still, some worry that leading with litigation from the early stages of a project could deepen conflict instead. At Eunma Apartments, some commercial tenants have pushed back strongly since the association announced its plans, and signs of confrontation are emerging.
An emergency committee of Eunma commercial tenants is demanding hundreds of millions of won in relocation compensation and measures to protect their livelihoods, and has set up a rooftop watchtower and vowed to fight for their right to make a living — a development that has become a variable in the project's progress, according to industry sources.
Some associations are offering financial incentives rather than wielding lawsuits. The redevelopment association for Noryangjin District 3, which begins relocation on the 13th of next month, has opted for the traditional carrot, paying 5 million won in relocation incentives to members who move out within the set period. Noryangjin District 1 is also conducting voluntary relocation.
"Pressuring residents through lawsuits may cut time in the short term, but if it provokes an emotional backlash and leads to an extreme standoff, it could invite even bigger project risks," another industry official said.
