About 10,000 people, including parishioners of the Umyun-dong Catholic church in Seocho District, Seoul, and local residents, said on the 9th they will submit a petition to preserve the church and the Songdong and Sikyuchon villages, which account for 1.8% of the Seripul district, and to develop the rest.
On Nov. 5 last year, the government announced a plan to lift greenbelt restrictions in four districts—Seripul in Seocho District, Seoul; Daegok in Goyang; Ojeon and Wanggok in Uiwang; and Yonghyeon in Uijeongbu—to supply 50,000 homes. Seripul drew attention as the first lifting of a development-restricted zone in Seoul in 12 years. The government plans to develop 2.21 million square meters (about 670,000 pyeong) across Seripul District 1 in Wonji, Sinwon, Yeomgok, and Naegok-dong in Seocho District and Seripul District 2 in Umyun-dong to supply 20,000 public housing units tailored to young people and newlyweds.
On this day, the countermeasure committee—comprising 9,519 people including parishioners from 11 parishes in Seocho District 12 of the Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul and residents of the Songdong and Sikyuchon villages—will submit a "petition to preserve the Umyun-dong Catholic church and the Songdong and Sikyuchon villages in Seripul Public Housing District 2 in Seoul" to the Presidential Office (Office for Listening and Integration), the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and Seocho District. In the petition, the committee said it is "a request to reconsider, at the stage of establishing the district plan, the current plan that includes the church and the two villages as targets for full acquisition and demolition in the course of promoting Seripul District 2, and to realize public interest by preserving the area."
They also said this is "not opposition to development, but coexistence-oriented development through preservation or boundary adjustment," adding, "We do not deny the need to supply public housing. However, the church and the two villages are not merely buildings; they are a religious community of more than 4,000 parishioners and a livelihood base where village communities that have continued for more than 500 years have taken root."
The committee added, "Seripul District 2 is part of the entire Seripul district, and the section including the church and the villages accounts for only 1.88% of the whole," and, "If this space is preserved and the layout and density of the remaining area are adjusted, it is the committee's consistent position that the supply target (20,000 units) can be fully achieved while reducing conflict and uncertainty."