Rep. Heo Young of the Democratic Party of Korea [provided by the lawmaker's office]
Rep. Heo Young of the Democratic Party of Korea [provided by the lawmaker's office]

Rep. Heo Young of the Democratic Party of Korea, who represents Chuncheon, Cheorwon, Hwacheon and Yanggu A in Gangwon Province, said Wednesday he had introduced a bill to amend the Special Act on the Establishment and Operation of Retirement Villages to allow retirement village projects to be pursued in conjunction with existing urban development initiatives.

The amendment would establish a legal basis for designating retirement village zones to overlap with areas already covered by existing development projects — such as urban regeneration innovation district projects and corporate innovation parks — and would expand the range of eligible project operators to allow existing urban development operators to jointly participate in retirement village projects. It would also link administrative procedures, including project plan approval and completion inspections, to improve overall efficiency.

The changes are expected to make better use of existing urban infrastructure while reducing duplicated investment and administrative inefficiency across projects, strengthening the practical viability of retirement village development.

According to Heo, the current Special Act on the Establishment and Operation of Retirement Villages was enacted to build retirement-friendly cities equipped with residential, medical, welfare and leisure functions in response to an aging society, and is set to take effect in March 2027.

Critics have noted, however, that the existing law lacks a legal basis for linking retirement village projects with existing urban development initiatives, making it difficult to fully utilize existing infrastructure and creating the risk of duplicated investment and fragmented functions between projects.

The amendment aims to establish an institutional framework that organically connects existing development projects with retirement village initiatives, allowing the infrastructure and administrative procedures of ongoing urban regeneration and development projects to be actively leveraged. This is expected to cut both project timelines and costs, while enabling the more efficient creation of retirement-friendly residential environments suited to local characteristics.

"As South Korea enters a super-aged society, building a residential environment with the housing, medical and welfare infrastructure needed for people to live stably in their communities after retirement is becoming a critical challenge," Heo said. "Developing entirely new sites from the outset has its limits, so we sought to lay an institutional foundation for building retirement villages more efficiently and quickly by linking them with existing urban development projects. Retirement villages can go beyond being simple residential complexes and become growth hubs that breathe new vitality into local communities."


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