Hyundai Motor Group’s ambition to erect South Korea’s tallest skyscraper and headquarters building in Samsung-dong, southern Seoul, has hit a snag due to military and safety questions.

The defense ministry and Seoul City government said Wednesday that they held a meeting to discuss whether to implement an assessment on air traffic safety and radar interference for Hyundai Motor Group’s Global Business Center (GBC) after the defense ministry suggested the necessity of the safety review of the skyscraper during a committee meeting held last month.

The government committee decided to defer approval for the GBC and demanded Hyundai Motor Group to reanalyze the population increase effect, come up with measures to manage buildings of its 15 affiliates in Seoul and surrounding area and implement air traffic safety and possible radar interference assessment with the defense ministry.

Hyundai Motor Group and Seoul City government complained that the air traffic safety issue has never been mentioned during the negotiations with Capital Defense Command, adding that the construction site is not subject to flying safety regulation.

The GBC building that the world’s fifth largest automotive group aspires to use as its new headquarters would have 105 floors and be 569 meters tall, taller than the nation’s current highest building 123-floor Lotte World Tower. The air traffic safety issue was also the biggest hurdle for Lotte World Tower as some questioned that the building could endanger the safety of flights because it is located adjacent to Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. But the former Lee Myung-bak administration authorized the construction in 2009 on condition that the angle of the airbase’s runway should be adjusted by three degrees. The issue is now under a prosecution probe as there is a growing suspicion that the group may have lobbied the former government to get the approval.

By Lee Ji-yong and Choi Mira

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