Court permits developer to build hotel near school

By Kim Se-jeong

A court has ruled that a hotel can open for business near a school providing it is not a source of harm to students.

The Seoul Administrative Court said on Sunday that it recently ruled in favor of a hotel developer, surnamed Koh, who filed a complaint against Jungbu District Office of Education after the office rejected his request to build a hotel near a school.

According to regulations, hotels are not allowed to be within 200 meters of school boundaries, mainly because the premises usually contain bars. Exceptions are granted when the regional educational authorities recognize that a hotel will not cause harm to students or the academic environment.

The developer planned to build a 16-story hotel on land near Seoul National University Girls’ Middle School in Jongno district, and asked the office to allow construction to go ahead in July last year.

The office refused, so Koh filed the suit.

“We find that it is unlikely the hotel will house a bar that would be harmful to students, because the building design shows that rooms for foreign tourists will take up most of the building, with many tourists spots nearby including Dongdaemun,” the court said in the ruling.

“In addition, the neighborhood already has several motels that are equally harmful. We expect the new hotel will block the view of motel signs from the school.”

Contrary to this decision, another hotel construction plan by Korean Air has been rejected after multiple court rulings.

The company planned to build a luxury hotel near Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul, while the planned site is surrounded by three schools. It has lost suit against the administrative court, Seoul High court and the Supreme Court since 2010.