Biz Korea reported on Feb 17th that the reconstruction of a detached house in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, which Song Joong-ki had purchased before divorcing Song Hye-kyo, was completed on Feb 8th.
Song Joong-ki bought the house for 10 billion won in Nov 2016. Song Joong-ki announced that he would marry Song Hye-kyo a year later. Accordingly, it was said that Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo would spend their newly-married life in this house.
However, it was known that the two had been separated two months before the reconstruction began. It was also said that no one was living in this house. Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo got married on Oct 31st, 2017, but divorced less than two years later on Jul 22nd, 2019.
There were several controversies over the reconstruction. Perhaps due to the seriousness of the divorce issue, Song Joong-ki did not proceed with the reconstruction for over a year even after receiving the building permit on Nov 16th, 2018.
As the construction period continued for 1 year and 5 months after the reconstruction began, about 50 nearby residents publicly protested to Song Joong-ki, saying that the noise and safety issues could no longer be overlooked.
It was also revealed that Song Joong-ki‘s side was found to have arbitrarily adjusted the road slope when the height of the road and the house parking lot did not match. It was pointed out that the flat road was made with a steep slope to match the entrance to the parking lot. In the end, the Yongsan-gu Office sent two official notices of corrective measures for violating Article 75 of the Road Act. In the process, some of the dissatisfied residents put up placards.
Due to various problems, the completion date scheduled for June 2021 was postponed to Feb 8th, about eight months later. Song Joong-ki does not appear to have suffered any losses despite several controversies. This is because the official land price of the house rose 54.6% from 4.691.232.000 won in Nov 2016 to 7.253.366.400 won last year.
Song Joong-ki‘s house was even broadcast out of the blue. Song Joong-ki‘s house appeared on JTBC’s “Let’s Eat Dinner Together” in Aug 2019. At that time, Lee Kyung-kyu, Kang Ho-dong, Hur Jae and Lee Man-ki visited Itaewon 1-dong and rang the doorbell of a house with an exceptionally high wall to get a meal. However, the doorbell did not ring as if there was a malfunction.
The cast quarreled in front of the house, such as when Hur Jae said “I think I pressed the password”, Lee Kyung-kyu replied, “It’s an automatic door.” However, it was later revealed that the house was Song Joong-ki’s, which drew attention.