BPA says rooftop plaza is 3 meters higher than Busan Station pedestrian deck, blocking harbor views and access for the elderly and disabled; developer PQ Construction refuses to sign corrective pledge

The transit center construction site as seen from above Busan Station [Busan Port Authority]
The transit center construction site as seen from above Busan Station [Busan Port Authority]

Busan Port Authority (BPA) announced Friday it would pursue cancellation of a land sale contract and other hardline measures against PQ Construction, the developer of a transit center in the North Port redevelopment zone, after the company continued construction based on a design that violates the district unit plan, obstructing citizens' views and pedestrian access while refusing to commit to corrections.

BPA sold PQ Construction a 25,714-square-meter plot in Block C-1 of the North Port redevelopment zone in December 2016. The developer is currently building a 24-story complex with a total floor area of 183,540 square meters. The central dispute is the transit center's low-rise rooftop plaza, which sits roughly 3 meters higher than the pedestrian deck at Busan Station.

The elevation gap blocks the sweeping view of Busan Port and Busan Port Bridge that visitors once enjoyed the moment they stepped out of the station, replacing it with a steep uphill ramp taller than a person — a design that also threatens pedestrian access for the elderly and people with disabilities. The North Port district unit plan explicitly requires the transit center's low-rise rooftop plaza to be built at the same level as the deck connecting to Busan KTX Station and the cultural park.

BPA said it first became aware of the height discrepancy in November 2024, during consultations over a second building-permit amendment. The authority believes the developer deliberately engineered the gap to gain an extra floor of commercial space, concluding that PQ Construction had disregarded the district unit plan's public-interest provisions in pursuit of maximum profit.

BPA notified Dong-gu and other relevant authorities of the issue and spent a year and a half pushing for public discussion. It also offered PQ Construction a compromise — carrying out only the lower-level construction work — but the developer continues to insist the height difference does not constitute a violation of the district unit plan and has refused to sign a pledge committing to the lower-level work.

"Beyond the height issue, the developer has extended the development deadline seven times and has yet to pay 2.9 billion won (approximately $2.1 million) in delay penalties," a BPA official said. "Refusing to sign a pledge that carries no penalty for the developer only proves there is no intention to make corrections."

"The public pedestrian corridor of the North Port redevelopment is the gateway walkway where people can take in the symbols of Busan as a port city at a glance — it is directly tied to the core value of returning North Port to the citizens," the official said. "If the developer does not change its position, we will formally notify it of the cancellation of the land sale contract, the last resort available to us as the redevelopment project operator and the land seller."

In response, PQ Construction said BPA had raised no objection to the uphill height difference during the building-permit process with Dong-gu, while adding that it was pursuing a design change to address the height discrepancy BPA had flagged.


kaf2002@heraldcorp.com