Active legal interpretation unlocks land division in Muhak District 1, long blocked by regulation
The Real Estate Information Division of Seoul's Jung-gu has been named a "2026 Model Department for Proactive Administration" by the Board of Audit and Inspection, receiving a commendation on Friday.
The honor recognized the division's work on the Muhak District 1 cadastral resurvey project, which resolved a 70-year joint land ownership dispute through proactive legal interpretation and field-centered administration, restoring residents' property rights.
Muhak District 1 covers the area around 55 Muhak-dong, near the Sindang-dong tteokbokki alley. Since Korea's liberation, 10 co-owners — including the state and private individuals — had held six parcels jointly, leaving residents unable to freely dispose of or use their land.
Residents went through litigation and obtained a final court ruling on land division in 2021, but public law regulations still made the actual split impossible. The boundaries set by the ruling did not meet the land division standards required under relevant statutes.
The district set out to find a solution to the long-standing hardship residents had endured. From 2022, it petitioned relevant agencies for statutory amendments and explored every available avenue through legal consultation and proactive administration pre-consulting. As a result, it applied a broad interpretation of the Special Act on Cadastral Resurvey, designated the site as a pilot district in 2024 and began working toward a resolution.
Proactive administration also proved decisive in drawing the new boundaries. Because the boundaries in the court ruling differed from actual conditions on the ground, disputes were a real risk. The district carefully cross-referenced historical survey records, the rights-based areas stated in the ruling, and the physical boundaries on site, then conducted three rounds of field verification before arriving at a workable boundary proposal.
Tailored communication kept all co-owners on board throughout the process. Officials exchanged views with overseas residents via SNS and visited elderly owners in person to walk them through the proposed boundaries. As a result, all 10 co-owners — including the state — reached a boundary agreement in September 2025, and the district completed the cadastral register update under the new boundaries in February, putting a definitive end to a problem that had persisted for seven decades.
The Real Estate Information Division broke from established practice, found solutions through active statutory interpretation, and secured unanimous agreement among all co-owners through rigorous field verification and persistent communication. The Board of Audit and Inspection recognized these efforts for protecting residents' property rights and reducing long-running grievances and social costs.
The district had already made history on Aug. 3, when it became the first autonomous district in the country to receive a presidential commendation at the Ministry of Interior and Safety's comprehensive evaluation of proactive local government administration. The latest recognition from the Board of Audit and Inspection further cements Jung-gu's standing as the nation's top district for proactive administration.
"The Muhak District 1 cadastral resurvey project is a model case of resolving long-standing property rights issues and conflicts through proactive administration and open communication," Jung-gu District Mayor Kim Gil-sung said. "Going forward, we will continue to actively seek workable solutions and protect residents' rights so that no one is left struggling because of outdated practices or regulations."
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
