The government and the Seoul Metropolitan Government are clashing head-on over a plan to build youth dwellings in Yongsan Park, regarded as Seoul's last large downtown green space. The government says that because it is a rare site in the heart of Seoul where large-scale dwellings can be supplied, partial use should be considered, but the Seoul city government counters that green space, once damaged, is hard to restore and should not be sacrificed for short-term dwelling supply.
Minister Kim Yun-duk of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon are scheduled to meet on the 20th to discuss ways to use Yongsan Park. At a full meeting of the Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee at the National Assembly on the 19th, Minister Kim said, "It is by no means about clearing all the green space in Yongsan Park to build dwellings," adding, "We are proposing to supply youth dwellings in a limited way in places that have partially lost their function as park green space."
The Seoul city government has made its opposition clear. Mayor Oh said, "The push to forcibly supply apartments in Yongsan Park is very concerning," and "The responsibility for failing to rein in housing prices should not be shifted onto Yongsan Park." While the government says some use is necessary to supply dwellings in Seoul, the Seoul city government argues that preserving downtown green space should come first, making it uncertain whether common ground will be found at this meeting.
◇ Special law must be revised again to build homes on the main site
The total area of Yongsan Park is about 3 million square meters. The Yongsan Park maintenance zone is divided into the "Yongsan Park development district," designated for the main U.S. military base site, the "complex facilities development district," designated for scattered surrounding sites such as the UNC, the Transportation Corps, and Camp Kim, and the "area surrounding the park" around them.
Under the current special law on the creation of Yongsan Park, the main site cannot be used for purposes other than a park. Article 4, Paragraph 2 of the special law sets it as a principle for the state to develop the entire main site as Yongsan Park and prohibits changing its use for non-park purposes or disposing of it through sale. To build dwellings here, that provision would have to be amended.
The amendment to the special law, set to be handled at a plenary session of the National Assembly, does not allow dwelling construction on the main site. Its core is to allow park development plans to be drawn up starting with land that has been returned and to ease standards for securing parks and green space in complex facilities development districts such as Camp Kim. Even if the amendment passes, the main site of Yongsan Park cannot immediately be converted into land for dwellings.
An official at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said, "Under current law, the main site cannot be used for non-park purposes," adding, "A separate legal revision would be needed to use it for supplying dwellings."
The government has not yet decided on the development target or the scale of supply. The Minister also said, "We are not at the stage of discussing implementation plans; we are preparing a deliberative process." Still, in the real estate and construction industries, there is mention that about 300,000 square meters currently used as the Yongsan Children's Garden could be considered. A rough calculation suggests that applying a floor area ratio of 300% to this site could yield 5,000 to 6,000 households, and 500% could yield around 10,000 households. The actual supply scale could vary greatly depending on dwelling size and the number of floors, and the ratio of green space and infrastructure.
The timing of supply is also a variable. Some U.S. military land has not yet been returned, and even after the return, soil and groundwater contamination surveys and remediation are needed. Considering the revision of the special law, changes to the park development plan, and the construction of infrastructure such as roads and water and sewage systems, some project the actual move-in could take more than 10 years.
◇ "Some development is unavoidable" vs. "irreversible green space"
Experts are divided. However, there is broad agreement that the discussion should go beyond a simple debate over dwelling supply volume to examine Seoul's long-term urban plan and the role of the park.
Kim Hyun-su, a professor in the department of urban planning and real estate at Dankook University, said, "The argument that not a single pyeong should be touched and that the entire area should be made into a park, or that the entire area should be developed into dwellings, is not realistic," adding, "Some development functions, such as housing, may be necessary for the park's financial sustainability, nighttime safety, and vitality." He added, "Beyond political strife or short-term dwelling supply and demand, a social consensus is needed that considers surrounding improvements and road construction."
On the other hand, some warn that Yongsan Park should not be viewed as "empty land" for short-term dwelling supply. It is a large green space in central Seoul that would be hard to secure again, and development would take considerable time, making it difficult to address the immediate supply shortage.
Lee Eun-hyeong, a research fellow at the Korea Research Institute for Construction Policy, said, "Even if dwellings are supplied in large quantities in Yongsan, it would be hard to expect Seoul housing prices to stabilize immediately," adding, "Rather than making Yongsan Park's development an issue, it is important to steadily push ahead with ongoing projects such as Seoul redevelopment projects and the third new towns."
Ma Kang-rae, a professor in the department of urban planning and real estate at Chung-Ang University, said, "Yongsan Park is a space that affects the competitiveness of Seoul and the nation," adding, "Even if dwellings are built, it could take more than 10 years to supply them, and once developed, it is hard to revert it to green space." He added, "Given the limits to high-density development when considering the Namsan landscape, alternatives that allow high-density development, such as the Yongsan train maintenance depot, should be reviewed first."