Members of the Democratic Party of Korea on the Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee discussed with the government ways to supply dwellings. But on Yongsan Park development, which has emerged as a key point in supplying dwellings in Seoul, Democratic Party lawmakers held back their words.
On the morning of the 19th, Democratic Party members of the Land Committee held a party-government consultation at the National Assembly Members' Office Building regarding plans to supply dwellings. Present were Democratic Party lawmakers Bok Gi-wang, Kim Nam-geun, Mo Gyeong-jong, Moon Jeong-bok, Boo Seung-chan, An Tae-jun, Jeon Yong-gi, Jeong Il-yeong, Jo In-cheol and Heo Yeong, as well as Minister Kim Yun-duk of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
The consultation was arranged for Democratic Party Land Committee members to be briefed on details of the dwelling supply plan the government had released earlier. On the 13th, the government released the Aug. 13 plan to supply "230,000 units + α" of dwellings in the capital region.
The Democratic Party plans to open a plenary session on the 20th to pass bills supporting the government's dwelling supply measures. These include the "Special Act on Creating Yongsan Park," the Urban Regeneration Act, the Public Housing Act and the Special Act on Complex Development of Unused School Sites.
The amendment to the Yongsan Park Special Act has emerged as a major point of contention after Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon publicly signaled opposition. The government said that if the amendment provides a legal basis, it could supply dwellings across the entire Yongsan Park. Seoul City, however, opposes the move, noting that Yongsan Park is the last remaining large-scale downtown area in Seoul.
Yongsan Park was designated a national park under the Yongsan Park Special Act enacted in 2007. Amending the law is necessary to establish a plan to supply dwellings for Yongsan Park. The amendment to the Yongsan Park Special Act passed The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee in May and is currently pending before the plenary session.
The amendment submitted to the plenary relaxes the standards for securing parks and green spaces in surrounding complex facility development zones, including Camp Kim. However, the children's garden within Yongsan Park, which the government first identified as a supply site for youth rental housing, is not part of the complex facilities and is separate from this bill.
The Democratic Party says more discussion is needed on the green ratio of Yongsan Park and the scale of dwellings to be built on the site. Bok Gi-wang, the ruling party secretary of the Land Committee and a Democratic Party lawmaker, told reporters after the consultation that "the Yongsan Park law is essentially about reducing the green ratio in relation to Camp Kim."
He added, "How to supply across the entire Yongsan Park has not even begun to be discussed," and "if there is capacity to supply on the site, we can start discussing how to proceed from now."