Jeju City is pushing forward with ordinance revisions at the (중앙) Jungang Shopping Mall, but the mall merchants association bitterly opposes the proposed changes. Here’s Joseph Kim to explain where the two sides stand.

This is the research report on the operation plan for Jeju city’s (중앙) Jungang Shopping Mall.


Jeju National University’s industrial-academic institute has carried out the research and suggested selecting a single mall manager through an open bidding process and entrusting the manager with operation of the whole mall.

The institute also suggested a change of the category of the property from public to private to enable shops to be sold and bought.


[slug]
Merchants’ demands reflected in JNU institute’s proposal

The Underground Shopping Mall Cooperative commissioned the study to JNU’s institute. And the institute’s proposals are not far off from the merchants’ requests.

INTERVIEW
Yang Seung-seok / Representative mall merchants association
If a bid is made for the whole mall, we have room to negotiate with the city government for price adjustment and valuation for each shop. However, if the city selects a tenant for a shop individually through an open bidding process, the highest bidders will take all. Only the rich would win.
< 양승석 / 중앙지하상점가진흥사업협동조합 이사장 >
상가 단위로 입찰했을 경우에는 그 안에서 서로가 조정 가능하거든요.
그런데 개별 점포 입찰인 경우에는 어떤 식으로 할지 모르지만
/// 만약에 최고가 입찰을 한다면 공유재산에 맞지 않아요. 돈 많은 사람이 다 가져가는 거예요.

Meanwhile, Jeju City is taking the complete opposite stance from the merchants and the JNU institute.

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Jeju City opposes plan backed by merchants, JNU institute

Jeju City argues that if it accedes to the merchants’ demands, unjust practices like excessively high premiums, subleases and multiple shop possession by one person won’t stop.

Therefore, the municipal government publicly announced that an individual bid system is proper and it has no plans on privatizing the mall.

INTERVIEW
Kim Dong-hun / Jeju City dept. of construction
To give a fair opportunity to every citizen to participate in the bidding process, we believe it’s right to select individual tenants for shops. The Jungang Shopping Mall is property owned in common. We don’t have any plan to change its category to a privately owned one.
< 김동훈 / 제주시 건설행정담당 >
전체 대다수 시민들의 공정한 입찰 참여 기회를 보장하기 위해서 개별점포별로 경쟁입찰을 시행하는 것이 바람직하다고 생각합니다.
/// 중앙지하상가는 현재 지하보도로서 일반재산이 아닌 행정재산으로 관리되고 있습니다. 현재까지 일반재산으로 전환할 계획은 없습니다.

The province will listen to and collect opinion from merchants and specialists to make the ordinance revision bill about the underground shopping mall management before July.

[REPORTER]
Joseph Kim

However, merchants and Jeju City’s positions are at polar opposites over the bid and management plan. A bumpy road is expected for the ordinance revision.

Joseph Kim KCTV