The ruling and opposition parties agreed to handle the amendment to the Special Act on the Creation of Yongsan Park, which has been placed on the agenda of the plenary session, after watching discussions between the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Seoul Metropolitan Government. With the gap between the government and the city remaining over Yongsan Park development, they intend to go through additional discussions.
Cheon Jun-ho, senior deputy floor leader for operations of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Kim Seung-su, senior deputy floor leader for operations of the People Power Party, met at the National Assembly on the morning of the 20th and discussed bills to be introduced at the plenary session that day. The ruling and opposition parties decided to handle about 70 bills placed on the agenda at the plenary session that day.
After the meeting, Cheon told reporters, "Today (the 20th) the ruling and opposition parties discussed and decided to introduce and handle about 70 bills at the plenary session," adding, "First, National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik expressed his intent to make sure to handle the bills that were not dealt with in the first half and carried over to the second half."
He added, "There were opinions that some of the bills need partial revisions, and I understand that Minister Kim Yun-duk of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon are currently holding discussions on the issue of dwellings supply," and said, "We decided to defer handling the Special Act on Yongsan Park, the Urban Maintenance Act, and the Urban Redevelopment Act for a week."
Kim said, "There are bills that passed when People Power Party members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee had left during the first and second halves, which passed without sufficient consultation," adding, "We discussed further reviewing such bills and, if necessary, drafting adjustment plans."
From the outset, the Democratic Party planned to handle at the plenary session that day the Special Act on Yongsan Park, the Urban Maintenance Act, the Public Housing Act, and other bills supporting the government's dwellings supply measures. Among them, the amendment to the Special Act on Yongsan Park emerged as a flashpoint after Mayor Oh publicly signaled opposition.
Yongsan Park was designated a national park under the Special Act on Yongsan Park enacted in 2007. To establish a dwellings supply plan for Yongsan Park, the law needs to be amended, but Mayor Oh opposed it, citing that it is the last remaining large-scale green space in downtown Seoul.
Minister Kim and Mayor Oh were said to be meeting somewhere in Seoul that day to discuss the issue of dwellings supply. It has been about a month since the two met over the dwellings supply issue on the 24th of last month.