Kick-off Meeting in Seoul re Vitalization of Wood Construction Policy
Canada Wood Korea is pleased to have been appointed as an expert member of the advisory group to the Seoul metropolitan City Housing Policy Office tasked with the vitalization of wood construction in Seoul to mitigate climate change.
The kick-off meeting was held May 4th at Seoul City hall & chaired by Mayor Oh Se-hoon to study and review the feasibility and justification of policies that could be deployed in favour of wood construction. Tai Jeong, Country Director of Canada Wood Korea presented a case study of wood construction development in Canada and demonstrated how wood performs with respect to different building types, scale and construction methods. Later – on May 18th, a more technical meeting was held at Canada Wood Korea office with working level officials to discuss planning details.
Newly elected Mayor Oh is a keen advocator of wood construction. As explained in a previous story, he made a public comment expressing his government’s strong support for the vitalization of wood construction. He also considers ESG as a point of differentiation that can boost competitiveness – both for the city of Seoul and the companies that operate within.
The Advisory Committee is composed of eight independent experts,
External experts:
- Seung Hee Kang, CEO & Chief Architect of NOVA Architects, Vice-Chair of Korea Wood Construction Association
- Nam Ho Cho, CEO & Chief Architect of SOLOTOS Architects
- Ph.D Chang-Deuk Eom, National Institute of Forest Science(NIFoS)
- Ph. D Seo Yeon Yoon, Department of Urban Planning and Design Research, the Seoul Institute
- Tai Jeong, Canada Wood Korea
Seoul City staff:
- Soon Kyoo Park, Director, Architecture Planning Division, Seoul Metropolitan Government
- Moo Heung Cha, Deputy Director
- Yok Hyun You, Team Leader
Canada Wood Korea has already worked with the Seoul government on two wood demonstration projects: Suyu social housing and Cheongdam community housing. Both projects demonstrate the use of wood infill walls as non-load bearing wall systems in concrete buildings, showing excellent potential. Working with Seoul city government to promote wood as a solution to government housing targets—and providing necessary wood-specific technical and regulatory guidance—will result in greater market share for Canadian wood in the Korean market.