Koreascapade

Delays still plague the Hanjin project, angering all future residents involved, including us. People were supposed to begin making payments back in February, but without resolutions, no one is parting with a cent, or rather won. However, as shown below, the site is now being cleared.

The main company, Hanjin, is blamed for not solving problems, for being too passive in its dealings. My guess is that as big company, it can afford to wait things out.

The other smaller building company involved is held in disdain for a range of problems. Its name is Daemyung. This company has a shady reputation and is low down on the construction companies hierarchy list. One debate going on is what brand name will be attached to the apartment complex, and no one wants Daemyung’s brand name, which is Luceen. It will lower the value of everything. We all want the Hanjin name.

Some clearing work at last (shot taken from the hill at the back of the site. . . Click for a bigger view).

The next trouble maker is some greedy old bastard with a large stake of property, who is supposed to be one of our community’s leaders but is really a snake in the grass. He’s got his own interests at heart and nothing else. What he’s been doing is rubber stamping everything that comes his way, such as the construction materials to use, without consulting anyone.

The old bastard’s interest is in getting the complex built, making a pile of money, and getting the hell out. People have even given him the nickname of some kind of bird that flies off free from everything. At the moment, the community is trying to do something about making him responsible after things are built, so that he can’t just fly off and leave a trail of damage behind. Rotten old bastard.

Responsibility is a problem with projects like this. Once things are built, everything becomes the community’s burden. It’s too late if the building company or anyone else has pulled a fast one. That’s just how the rules are. So, in the initial stages, everyone is trying squeeze what they can out of the deal. Hence, no one is paying anything until design and materials issues are sorted out.

A view looking south-east towards Soongshil University (Click for a bigger view).

The latest of the design complaints is that the kitchen is old-fashioned. You cannot have that in a newly built apartment because it will automatically devalue property, just like the wrong brand name will. Korean buyers are very savvy on such matters. The look of the kitchen was discovered by people visiting the apartment model house building, which is not officially open but they were allowed in to see what is happening.

It’s the same old same old for us: more delays. However, it was heartening to see clearing work being done on site, even on a public holiday.

Another point of interest discovered on our walk around the site was that yet another small project has started nearby, to the south, and Hanjin apparently has something to do with that. That means this area is going to be dense with apartment blocks.