<Anchor>
I received a report that the entrance to
my new apartment was blocked by containers, preventing people from moving. Residents say the construction costs have prevented their children from going to school.

Reporter Ahn Sang-woo contributed to this report.

<Gija>
A 299-unit new apartment in Sinwol-dong, Yangcheon-gu,
Seoul.

It was scheduled to start moving in on the 28th of last month, but there is not a single tenant to be found.

All entrances to the apartment are blocked with containers.

As a result, residents who were planning to move in can't even move.

[(Why is the entrance blocked here?) Wait a minute, we can't shoot right now.]

The contractor, who was in conflict with the union, came forward with a lien, and the occupancy was suspended.

[Prospective tenant: I'm going to die hard, now. I have to move...]

The source of the conflict is the share of additional construction costs.

The contractor's position is that as construction materials and labor costs have risen, the cooperative will have to pay an additional contribution of 10.6 billion won.

However, the union counters that the construction cost was overestimated.

[Yu Chun-ok/President of the Reconstruction and Maintenance Business Association: Even now, the additional contribution is 6~70 million won. In such a situation, if we ask for 10 billion won like this, how much is each of the 120 members? Our members will fail.]

Residents who were unaware of this situation and tried to move in time for the move-in start date were struck by lightning.

[Lee Sun-hee/Prospective Resident: I thought the container on site was missing, but it was coming in. That's what came in and started blocking it.]

I tried to transfer my child in time for the new semester, but the school canceled the transfer because it could not confirm his actual residence.

[Lee Sun-hee/Prospective Resident: We complained several times urgently, 'I have a problem with my child.' What's worse is that we have nowhere to go. We have to go to a hotel or motel right now.]

The local government has mediated and held two rounds of consultations, but the contractor and the union have not been able to narrow their differences.

(Video Editor: Kim Yoon-sung, VJ: Park Hyun-woo)

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<Anchor>
Ahn Sang-woo reporter who covered
this story.

Q. Has the construction cost actually increased?

[Reporter Ahn Sang-woo: Yes, first of all, because of the inflation phenomenon that has been going on since last year, the price of construction materials has risen a lot, and interest rates have risen a lot, and the cost of interest on loans has increased a lot. As a result, construction companies are bound to feel the pressure to increase costs. In fact, if you look at the average sale price of apartments nationwide last month, it was about 15.7 million won per 3.3 square meters. This is more than 1.5 million won higher than a year ago.]

Q. Has the dispute over the "increase in construction costs" increased?

[Reporter Ahn Sang-woo: In fact, as the contractor requests an increase in construction costs, more and more complexes are in danger of stopping construction. When a contractor requests an increase in construction costs, the cooperative can ask Korea Real Estate Agency to verify whether such an increase is appropriate. And under this system, the number of verification requests is actually increasing every year, and last year we recorded 32 requests. This was the highest number since the construction cost verification system was created.]

Q. Why are there disputes with the verification system?

[Reporter Ahn Sang-woo: First of all, verification takes place only when the union requests verification, but there is no penalty clause in the current law that will punish or penalize the union for not requesting verification. And even if the test results come out, this is only a reference, not a binding one. For this reason, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport is also considering ways to improve such a system that can more effectively improve the problems caused by the issue of increasing construction costs, and to adjust and solve them. However, remember that the longer the improvement of this system is delayed, the more damage can be suffered not only for tenants but also for construction companies. There is a need.]