Seongnam designates project operator for Bundang Yangji Village reconstruction, where President Lee sold his apartment

Seongnam has completed the designation of a project operator for the integrated reconstruction zone of Yangji Village in Bundang's Sunae-dong — a district that includes Kumho Complex 1, the apartment President Lee Jae-myung recently sold. Once a project operator is officially designated and announced, the transfer of union membership rights becomes restricted.

Seongnam on Monday designated Daesin Asset Trust as the project operator for Yangji Village in Sunae-dong, Bundang — a zone encompassing the Kumho, Cheonggu and Hanyang apartment complexes along with a commercial association — according to industry sources.

Bundang-gu was designated a regulated zone and speculative overheating district under the government's Oct. 15 measures last year, subjecting it to restrictions including limits on the transfer of union membership rights. Under a trust-based management structure, the date of the project operator designation announcement serves as the regulatory reference point. After that date, exceptions allowing the transfer of union membership rights apply only in cases such as a single-homeowner household that has held the property for at least 10 years and resided there for at least five years.

Yangji Village selected Daesin Asset Trust as its preliminary project operator through open competitive bidding last May. The village plans to form a maintenance project committee this year and select a contractor in the first half of next year.

Yangji Village, designated a leading reconstruction district for first-generation new towns by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is set to be redeveloped from its current 4,392 units into a large complex of 6,839 units. Kim Yeong-jin, head of the Yangji Village integrated reconstruction residents' representative body, said the project is targeting project implementation plan approval next year and a management and disposal plan approval in 2028. "Given the symbolic significance of being Bundang's first reconstruction project and the business viability that comes with being the largest in scale, I believe owners will choose a high-end contractor grounded in integrity," he said.

President Lee sold a 164-square-meter unit in Kumho Complex 1, part of Yangji Village, for 2.9 billion won ($1.98 million) on July 14. The buyer completed the ownership transfer registration on July 16, two days after the contract, and is understood to have succeeded to the union membership rights.