Korea University (KU) has recently announced a plan to construct a dormitory that could accommodate more than 1100 KU students. The dormitories newly planned to be built will be built on the school grounds in Gae-woon-san, holding 550 rooms and 6 units accommodating a total of 1100 people in size. According to KU, once the school dormitory is completed, it will significantly increase capacity of students by 3826 students increased significantly from the existing 2726 people capacity. However, with Seong-buk resident's opposition, the plan is having a hard time being realized.  

Unsolved Dormitory Shortages Problem

Low capacity of school dormitory has been long discussed among students. It is true that a lot of KU students from other areas are suffering from finding their rooms since lack of capacity in current dormitory. The Meanwhile, they have to pay a monthly rent fee of 40-500000 won. It has burdened both the student and the parent, but had no choice but to blame school for the lack of access to the school dormitory, which came along with the pain of expensive tuition.

Planning dorm construction was not easy. According to KU, it was not easy to build in the woods and greenery such as Gae-woon-san by 2012. However, the Act on urban parks and greenery went through some amendments, allowing college student to live in the green dormitory possible. However, in terms of the dormitory building plans, some of the nearby residents are making conflicts with the KU. Opposition movement has already begun to raise the banners around the neighborhood, including the creation Seongbuk Resident Association.

Seong buk residents Calls for Protection of Nature

Meanwhile in Gae-woon-san, the placards were hung up everywhere opposing to KU's new dormitory construction. Starting from the opposition of a group of merchants and landlords nearby campus area, it has now formed a big association including the Seong buk badminton sports club, and residents near Gae-woon-san area. There were a lot of suspicions whether the association is mainly filled with own room owners who wants to benefit from students.

To this prospect, Oh Jung-gyun, a member of Seongbuk-gu Council defends that "The residents are solely worried about the nature destruction." Oh continues, "At first, the one room owners and land ladies took a lead in this opposition movement. However, in fact, majority of people in the association is not against the construction of dormitory. But, we are only against the fact that construction being held in Gae-woon-san, and that it will lead to the destruction of nature in Gae-woon-san area." He added that KU needs to dawn on this issue again seriously since the destruction cannot be restored once it is done.

According to Oh, Gae-woon-san area has long been a public place for the Seongbuk residents, where people play sports and go on a picnic with families in the weekends. On average more than 100 people are known to climb the mountain every week. By showing the active use of the nature of Gae-woon-san area, Oh strongly urged KU to stop the construction plan. He was worried that residents would suffer from the construction in using the public centers, and it will inevitably harm the natural surroundings.        

"We are not saying that KU should not build its new dormitory. The problem is that it is being constructed in the Gae-woon-san area. It will definitely harm the natural surroundings and residents would be the one who would suffer by it," says Oh, claiming that construction on Gae-woon-san itself is a problem. 

KU claims, Facts on Construction are Being Distorted

Against all oppositions, KU's stance for dorm expansion was different. The KU Engineering Department claims that the construction plan itself is rather eco-friendly, and there has been miscommunication between the residents and the school authority. At the moment KU is trying hard to make a compromise with the residents and the landlords, however, KU says KU is not alone in facing opposition of residents on building school dormitories.

The Manager of KU Engineering Department, Gwon Jin Taek, says the residents should be more generous upon KU students. "The opposition of residents is something that every university go through when building new dormitories. Currently not only KU, but Ihwa Women’s University, and Sogang University is also going through similar legal process. When taking a closer look at these cases, it is the landlord and the real estate dealer who are at the core of the opposition. They have been making profits from KU students for a long time. It is now a time for them to show more of generosity upon KU students. This construction will definitely benefit a lot of KU students who are suffering from Dormitory shortages," says Gwon.

The claim that KU dormitory construction will destroy the nature of Gae-woon-san also turns out to be a falsehood. KU tried sueing the real estate for hanging a placard at the crosswalk in front of Cham-sali Street, and all the placards were put down immediately. "This kind of false information is coming up on the internet and the walls. This is what aggravates the miscommunication between the residents and KU administration. When meeting the representative of the Gae-woon badminton club, the construction plan was compromised favorably with consensus. We have to clarify the unsolved problems with whoever is constantly claiming the opposition,”says Gwon, hoping to clarify the truth in this opposition.    

The construction plan is considered well not to destroy the nearby nature; Parkside and sidewalk for the hikers will be built along with the building. The Building itself will be a Low-Rise building, considering the ecological balance. The main reason behind KU's refute on destruction of nature is that the construction area of KU dormitory is the area that has already been developed by the nearby residents illegally. Restrooms and Badminton court are already placing the area. "The construction will not harm more damage to the area, but through the construction, it will make the place cleaner and more accessible for the residents to use as well," said Gwon.

The controversy over KU new dormitory construction is ongoing, however, it seems that things have to be more clarified between the residents and KU. KU is currently trying to gather a signature campaign from students to get a consent in constructing dormitory. KU is planning on opening the whole construction plan to the school and the students, and face the opposition of the residents. This will not only give a clear information of construction for students, but also for residents who are misunderstanding the fact.