"Seoul cannot agree under any circumstances to repurpose the main Yongsan Park site as land for apartments. If we agree to repurpose even a limited portion or restricted area for residential use, it will leave me, as Seoul mayor, as a sinner before history."
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon met with Minister Kim Yun-duk of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and again made clear his opposition to the government's plan to supply dwellings within Yongsan Park. He said that the entire park, as well as some sites where buildings already stand, such as military apartments and officers' housing, are slated to be turned into parkland in the future and therefore cannot be converted into residential land.
However, Oh offered a compromise in which Seoul would actively support expanding infrastructure such as transportation and water and sewage for dwelling supply that uses scattered sites around the main body of Yongsan Park, including the Camp Kim and Gyeongnidan sites and the parking lots of the Bank of Korea and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Oh said after a closed-door meeting with the Minister on the morning of the 20th at Conference House Dalgaebi in Jung-gu, Seoul, and at a subsequent briefing at City Hall, "In conclusion, on Yongsan Park, we remained on parallel tracks."
Oh said the government did not decide during the meeting which specific site within Yongsan Park it would use to supply dwellings. The two sides also agreed to continue discussions on the scale of dwelling supply in the Yongsan International Business District, support for youth housing, and easing regulations on redevelopment and reconstruction. The following is a Q&A with Oh.
─What position did you convey to the Minister regarding Yongsan Park?
"I spoke in a very strong tone. I made it clear that Seoul cannot agree under any circumstances to repurpose the main Yongsan Park site as land for apartments.
Yongsan Park is a space for the quality of life and leisure of Seoul residents and forms a major part of the green axis connecting Namsan to the Han River. It is difficult to agree to repurposing for residential use not only the entire main site but even a limited portion or restricted area.
I made Seoul's position clear, even using the expression that agreeing to that would leave me, as Seoul mayor, as a sinner before history."
─Did you also propose alternatives to compromise with the government?
"I proposed a compromise to discuss flexibly the scattered sites near the main body of Yongsan Park. For sites around the area that Rep. Kwon Young-se proposed a few days ago as usable—such as the Camp Kim and Gyeongnidan sites and the parking lots of the Bank of Korea and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—I made a counterproposal that Seoul is willing to take a forward-leaning approach to reviewing and actively assisting with the installation of urban infrastructure, including transportation measures and water and sewage. I think the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) will also review it."
─Did you confirm exactly which site in Yongsan Park the government intends to use to supply dwellings?
"They did not specify, to the very end, which part within the main Yongsan Park site they would repurpose for residential use. I asked several times, 'Which site exactly do you have in mind?' but the official position of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) was that nothing had been finalized or sorted out yet.
There are a few identifiable places such as officers' housing, military apartments, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration site, and the Children's Garden or the hospital site that recently drew controversy, but I confirmed that their position was only that they are still considering which of those areas to weigh. Because it has not been decided which site to use, it is difficult for Seoul to determine a corresponding specific position now."
─How will you respond if the government and the ruling party push ahead with dwelling supply in Yongsan Park by revising the law?
"As for changing the law in the National Assembly, because the People Power Party is a minority party, Seoul in effect does not have the power to block moves to amend bills.
However, I think many Seoul residents will agree that scarce green space like Yongsan Park should be made into a park and preserved as a space for quality of life to be passed down to generations 100 and 200 years from now.
If there are moves by the government and the ruling party to physically push through changes by revising the law, I expect that citizens' support will ultimately serve as a limit on such moves."
─The government also points out that while Seoul agreed to lift the Seoripul greenbelt, it opposes developing Yongsan Park. How do you respond?
"There were conditions when we agreed at the time to lift the Seoripul greenbelt. We agreed in the hope that it would provide newlyweds, including through the Mirinae-jip program, with a chance to aspire to secure dwellings. Of the volume to supply about 20,000 households, around 11,000 were planned as Mirinae-jip, and I think that promise is still being kept.
Greenbelt preservation is important, but solving low birthrates is also a national task. On that premise, we judged that lifting the greenbelt for damaged areas is meaningful. However, even then, we made it clear there would be no additional greenbelt lifting, and I told the president the same at the Cabinet meeting the other day."
─There is also criticism that Seoul focuses only on redevelopment and reconstruction and is not interested in housing for one- to two-person youth households.
"Seoul is working with great passion on supplying youth housing, including Youth安心 Housing. We are pursuing a plan to supply 74,000 units of various types of youth housing by 2030. Over the past five years, we also supplied about 30,000 units of Youth安心 Housing, and barring any special variables, we expect to supply about 17,000 additional units during the eighth popularly elected term. If someone says Seoul is not interested in one- to two-person households or youth while knowing none of this, I would say that reflects ignorance of Seoul's policies."
─Was there discussion on the scale of dwelling supply in the Yongsan International Business District?
"We could not discuss it at length. Seoul's existing position is about 8,000 units, and MOLIT's is about 10,000. I previously said that if Rep. Kwon Young-se and Yongsan District Chief Park Hee-young meet and propose a compromise that the district can craft in between, Seoul would provide support commensurate with that. I understand the two met afterward and confirmed a very hard-line position. We agreed to continue further discussion on this part going forward."
─What additional youth housing measures did you request from MOLIT today?
"I said we need policies that young people can feel immediately, rather than proposing to build youth rental dwellings in Yongsan Park. For example, I asked MOLIT to take a forward-leaning approach to reviewing raising the target dwelling price for Didimdol mortgages to around 900 million won and increasing the loan limit to around 600 million won so that loan support would be effective.
I also suggested expanding eligibility for the Youth Future Bogeumjari Loan, which currently targets non-apartments, to include apartments and raising the limit from 400 million won to 800 million won. As this requires consultation not only with MOLIT but also the Financial Services Commission, the intent was to ask for government-level review.
I also proposed revising the Enforcement Decree of the Special Act on Public Housing to give governors and mayors discretion to set detailed eligibility criteria for long-term jeonse dwellings, and improving HUG's guarantee requirements in the Youth安心 Housing program."
─Why do you think these measures should come before work on Yongsan Park?
"For Yongsan Park, the law must be changed, soil contamination issues resolved, and transportation measures drawn up before ground can be broken. I think it will be nearly impossible to even start construction within this government's term. Many experts point this out.
Rather than heading toward a sharp confrontation between Seoul and MOLIT over something that would happen years from now, I said it would be better to take a forward-leaning approach to practical policies that can immediately benefit young people and deliver results.
I also again proposed temporarily easing the restriction on transferring cooperative member status that was discussed at the Cabinet meeting, relaxing floor area ratio limits in redevelopment areas, and giving flexibility to the ratio of rental dwellings. If these steps are taken, redevelopment projects would become economically viable and could gain speed."
─The government also claims Seoul is blocking dwelling supply for political reasons.
"I do not think it is necessary to rebut slanderous claims that the Seoul mayor is delaying dwelling supply for political reasons. It is something to laugh off.
Departments in charge of dwellings at Seoul City Hall are thinking almost every day about how to supply more dwellings faster to stabilize real estate prices. Claims that Seoul is blocking supply would make the frontline civil servants faint in shock."
─How do you respond to criticism that you are responsible for the decline in dwelling permitting volume in Seoul since 2022?
"There are multiple causes. First, villa supply plummeted, which is a nationwide phenomenon. After the jeonse fraud problem worsened, anxiety about villas grew among young people, and developers judged that leasing and sales would be difficult, so applications for permits themselves fell sharply.
Since the Russia-Ukraine war, international raw material and construction material prices have surged, and labor costs rose significantly through COVID-19. As construction costs spiked, projects became unviable, and the volume of new project starts fell.
In addition, during Mayor Park Won-soon's tenure, 389 redevelopment and reconstruction projects were canceled, and the potential supply volume at that time was about 340,000 units. If that volume had proceeded sequentially, the supply situation in Seoul now would be different. For these complex reasons, permitting volume in Seoul has declined since 2022, and it is not accurate to blame only the current Seoul administration without any background explanation."
─The government argues that sites that are not currently green, such as military apartments or the Defense Acquisition Program Administration site, can be used. Are you opposed to all such sites as well?
"That is the crux. The military apartments, officers' housing, and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration site are all areas slated for conversion into parkland. The Special Act on Yongsan Park is not a law that restores only areas that remained green; its intent is to create the entire main site as a park.
The government is arguing that sites within the park's main body that currently have buildings can be used. But Yongsan Park is not about damaging an already created park. The entire main site was used as a military base for a long time, and even now it is paved with concrete or used for various purposes.
The intent of the Special Act on Yongsan Park is to turn such spaces into a national park like Seoul Forest, with trees, lawns, and walking paths. I cannot agree with the logic that because buildings exist now, those parts do not need to be turned into parkland. I also made this point to the Minister in a firm tone."
─Did today's meeting effectively break down?
"No. Today's meeting did not break down; we agreed to continue discussions. We will keep discussing next week, and the door to communication is open. We will continue to discuss where we can craft a mutual compromise."