Key takeaways
Mokdong New Town began under the banner of mass housing for low-income residents, but was ultimately realized as an upscale middle-class complex to help fund the Olympics. Fact In the process, evicted residents' seven-month struggle produced real gains: recognition of property rights for unregistered housing, and move-in rights for tenants. Fact These complexes are now, as of 2026, the subject of a reconstruction project worth roughly 30 trillion won. Fact
The ones who benefit are the people who built assets on this land after the policy's purpose changed. The ones who paid the price are the low-income residents who were originally meant to benefit from this plan. And the ones facing that outcome again today are the current residents of these complexes, caught up in institutional variables like the reconstruction excess-profit levy (a Korean policy that taxes gains from reconstruction projects above a certain threshold).
What to look for on site
- The school district and subway access repeatedly cited in reconstruction feasibility assessments
- Discussion of the reconstruction excess-profit levy (see reference materials)
- A neighborhood where the record of the eviction struggle and today's reconstruction debate exist side by side
A structural question worth carrying with you
What has the fact that this was once a plan for the poor left behind in today's Mokdong? FIT TRIP won't answer that for you. But it's worth carrying the question as you walk.