On July 14, Rev. Ha Tae-yeong (photo) talked about the situation at his church. “It is nonsense. They are making a unilateral demand for demolition on the basis that the church building is a temporary construction and that the registration says the land is not for religious purposes. Our church has been here in the neighborhood with the residents and held services continuously for almost 40 years now.”
Rev. Ha planted Samil Church in 1973. He purchased this land designated for citizens’ housing in 1977 in the name of “Samil Church of the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK)” and since then has used it as a worship hall.
Ahead of the redevelopment planning, the church requested the “Housing Redevelopment and Rezoning Project Cooperative” to provide religious-purpose land, along with the right to build a new building of the same size for worship services, and a place for worship during the construction. The Cooperative refused the request, saying, “No religious-purpose land was planned at the time of rezoning, and the current land and building of the church are not registered as ‘religious purpose.’” The Cooperative also pointed to the fact that the current church building was permitted temporarily under the condition that it was subject to demolition if a redevelopment project took place.
Rev. Ha has valid reasons for his demand. He said, “On paper, it is not religious-purpose land or facilities. But in reality, it has never been used for any purpose other than church… If we had used the land and building for residence, we would have had to pay local taxes. But for nearly 40 years, we have never been taxed. This surely was because the District Office recognized our religious purpose. Furthermore, ‘land of religious-purpose’ is a new concept now widespread only after new urban development. Most of the churches in old downtown Seoul with more than 40 years’ history are registered as just plain land.”
In addition, there were circumstances that made the ‘temporary permission for a church building’ inevitable. The church did repairs in 2006 when the aged building gave in and developed leaks and other problems. During the process, however, the building collapsed, thus the church applied to the District Office for a new construction permit. The Office refused the application because the area was already under redevelopment planning and any new construction was restricted. Rev. Ha could not abandon the collapsed church, but requested a temporary construction approval. At that time, the District Office demanded a publicly notarized written promise that the church would voluntarily conduct demolition at the time of redevelopment.
“I was told at the time that the Office had received a petition against new church construction, and in order to deal with this situation, writing a public promise was unavoidable. So in 2007 we received permission for temporary construction, renewable every two years.”
Currently the Cooperative is insisting on a cash resolution, instead of retention of the church, and has filed a lawsuit for transfer of ownership. Rev. Ha said, “According to Seoul City’s resolutions on new town zoning and religious facilities, religious facilities are subject to review with priority for their retention, and if that is impossible, a moving plan has to be set up that is proportionate to the original site. But in reality, those are just words. The District Office and the City are speaking for the Cooperative.”
On June 29, the Seoul Presbytery of PROK formed a countermeasures committee for retention of Samil Church. PROK, on the denominational level, is collecting signatures requesting the related government bodies to approve retention of the church, and plans to submit petitions to Eunpyeong-gu District Office and Seoul City Government.
Both the District and the City remain firm in their position, but Rev. Ha’s resolution is also firm. “I’m 70 and will retire this year. I will do my best. I ask for prayers from as many as possible so that this church with its 38-year history doesn’t disappear into thin air.”
Reporter Yang Minkyeong (grieg@kmib.co.kr), with Yeara Ahn-Park (yap@kmib.co.kr)
Photo by senior reporter Kang Min Seok
Click here for the original article in Korean
