Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon strongly opposed a reported plan by the government to use Yongsan Children's Garden for dwellings supply, saying, "It must not be used for dwellings supply, even in part."
Oh said in closing remarks at the "citizens' grand debate for normalizing real estate" hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on the 6th, "A report said apartments would be supplied in Yongsan Children's Garden. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport says it is not an official position, but related talk keeps leaking out, which causes anxiety."
He noted, "It is unacceptable for the central government, while preparing a supply plan using state-owned land, to notify us only right before an announcement without prior consultation with the Seoul Metropolitan Government," adding, "Simply because land ownership does not rest with the city does not mean decisions can be made unilaterally on matters that significantly affect Seoul's urban planning and residents' lives."
Oh emphasized that Yongsan Park is a core green space that must be preserved in central Seoul. He said, "Seoul is a city where close to 10 million residents live, and many residents suffer whenever a heat wave hits," adding, "Managing and securing the city's green area is the duty of the Seoul mayor."
He continued, "Yongsan Park is a space that the government and the Seoul Metropolitan Government must preserve responsibly and pass down to future generations," adding, "I will state the city's position clearly on the plan to build tens of thousands of households in Yongsan Children's Garden. Yongsan Park cannot be used for dwellings supply, even in part."
The government recently was reported to be reviewing the possibility of dwellings supply centered on Yongsan Children's Garden. Yongsan Children's Garden is an area of about 300,000 square meters that has been temporarily opened since 2023 out of 3 million square meters of the Yongsan base site returned by the U.S. military. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport oversees the Yongsan Park development project, and Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) operates the site.
On the 13th of last month, the 137,000 square meters of restricted protection zone around the Children's Garden outside the Ministry of National Defense perimeter was lifted, raising the possibility of development. The government was said to be looking into estimating the supply scale by considering the actually usable area, floor area ratio, and the extent to which the park would be retained.
However, the current Yongsan Park Development Special Act stipulates that the main site of the U.S. military base be developed as a park and that its use not be changed for other purposes or disposed of. To supply dwellings, the special act would have to be amended to include an exception for public dwellings, or some parcels would have to be separated from the park development district. Soil contamination surveys and remediation of the returned U.S. base site would also have to come first.
Regarding the additional dwellings supply measures expected to be announced by the government soon, Oh said, "The Seoul Metropolitan Government will help where it can, but we will clearly uphold the principles where they must be kept," adding, "We will do our best to stabilize the real estate market."