Construction of Good Morning City Begins

The construction of “Dongdaemun Good Morning City,” which was suspended due to lobbying scandals involving politicians and public officers and the embezzlement of contract fees by the chief executive officer of the company in charge of the construction, was initiated on May 28.

Contract Association of Good Morning City announced that there was a groundbreaking ceremony on the construction site which is located near Dongdaemun Stadium in Seoul.

Good Morning City completed its store contracts in 2001, but construction was not permitted and was suspended after Yoon Chang-yeol (CEO of Good Morning City Co., a real estate development firm) was arrested on the charges of providing kickbacks to politicians and high-ranking officials, and running Good Morning City Co. into bankruptcy.

After that, contractors of Good Morning City formed an association and put the bankrupt company under court receivership.

It is the first case where contractors voluntarily filed for court receivership and won construction permission.

Meanwhile, Poonglim, the company currently in charge of the construction, is scheduled to complete the construction of a building with seven underground floors, 16 floors, and 27,850 pyeongs of total floor space by 2008. About 5,000 stores will open in the building.

Jae-Seong Hwang jsonhng@donga.com