Hyundai Motor Group’s construction of its new headquarters Global Business Center in Samsung-dong, southern Seoul, is to be delayed after the Seoul Metropolitan Government rejected the company‘s first draft of an environmental impact assessment Tuesday.

The government said that it would redeliberate the draft when the company revises it.

“Hyundai Motor will conduct a thorough revising process to meet the government‘s expectations. We will also try to resubmit its revised draft as soon as possible,” a Hyundai Motor spokesperson said. “The company aims to begin constructing the headquarters hopefully by the end of the year,” he added.

Hyundai Motor plans to complete the construction by 2021.

“When constructing large buildings, it is often the case where companies revise their environmental impact assessment drafts several times since the government usually takes tough measures on large-scale constructions, which have significant impact on their surroundings,” according to an industry source.

The nation’s current tallest skyscraper Lotte World Tower also had gone through a yearlong process to receive the permission from the government, largely due to safety and environmental concerns caused by its size.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government official said that the height of the Hyundai’s building is within an acceptable limit of 600 meters, set by its urban construction committee.

Hyundai Motor‘s GBC would be a 105-story building with a height of 569 meters. If completed, the building would be the tallest building in the nation.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)