The government has begun revising the comprehensive master plan for Yongsan Park in Seoul. It is changing the comprehensive master plan again one year and two months after December 2024, when it drew up the fourth comprehensive master plan, saying it would create a patriotism and veterans affairs space in the park.
Yongsan Park is about turning the Yongsan land used by U.S. Forces Korea into a national park. However, development has been delayed because part of the land used by the U.S. military has not yet been returned. The government plans to establish a park development plan next year.
According to the Yongsan Park Development Promotion Team at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 12th, the team is conducting a bid to revise the "Yongsan Park Comprehensive Master Plan." Yongsan Park is a project to create a national park on about 3 million square meters of land returned as the U.S. Forces Korea Yongsan Garrison was transferred to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi. Currently, ahead of formal development, Yongsan Children's Park and the Officers' Housing Complex 5 have been temporarily opened. For land whose return has not been completed, the Office of National Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of National Defense are holding negotiations.
A promotion team official said, "This is not a specific site development plan but a stage to revise the big picture for overall park development," adding, "However, next year we plan to draw up a development plan, the next stage of the comprehensive master plan, to flesh out buildings and other details by zone within the park."
The total area being returned by the U.S. military is similar to Central Park in New York, United States (about 3.41 million square meters). It is more than twice as large as Hyde Park in London (1.42 million square meters).
The government enacted the Yongsan Park Special Act in 2007 and drew up a comprehensive master plan in 2011. The following year, in 2012, it also held an international design competition. "Healing - The Future Park," jointly designed by world-renowned Dutch landscape architect Adriaan Geuze and Korean architect Seung Hyo-sang, was selected as the top prize. Based on this, the basic design (2018) was completed. However, the comprehensive master plan is still being revised. That is because it has not yet been decided what facilities to place on some unreturned sites, such as the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) building and the U.S. Embassy staff housing.
The CFC is located in the Main Post (north zone) of the Yongsan U.S. military base, and the U.S. Embassy staff housing is laid out on the South Post (south zone) at 174,000 square meters (about 52,000 pyeong). On top of this, with the presidential office transferring to Yongsan and then moving back to the Blue House, continued revisions to the comprehensive master plan were unavoidable. The government is also said to be considering various uses for the currently open Yongsan Children's Park.
According to the fourth comprehensive master plan announced at the end of 2024, the total area of the Yongsan Park development district is 3,001,606.1 square meters (about 910,000 pyeong). At the time, the government said the purpose of the plan revision in the fourth comprehensive master plan was "to set the basic direction for preserving and installing veterans affairs facilities within Yongsan Park and make Yongsan Park a landmark symbolizing the Republic of Korea." It aimed to create a patriotism and veterans affairs space within Yongsan Park so that veterans affairs facilities such as the Seoul National Cemetery, Yongsan Park, the War Memorial of Korea, and Gwanghwamun can be spatially connected.
Kang Cheol-hee, a professor at Hongik University's Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Design, said, "The basic plan for Yongsan Park has continued to change due to changes in the times and social demands," adding, "While efforts to accommodate such changes are important, to make it a space that symbolizes the area like Central Park in New York, the park should be created based on a philosophy for a space that will not sway with temporary trends or partisan interests."
Kim Jin-yu, a professor in Kyonggi University's Department of Urban Transportation Engineering, said, "The grand principle established during the Roh Moo-hyun administration was to preserve the entire returned U.S. military site as a park, but the Camp Kim site was converted into land for housing supply," adding, "Rather than insisting on securing a large park, it is necessary to develop the area connecting the National Museum of Korea and the War Memorial of Korea into a mall—a wide, straight promenade lined with trees—that symbolizes Korea, like the National Mall in Washington, D.C."