Minister Kim Yun-duk of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon will put their heads together again this week over ways to use Yongsan Park to supply dwellings in Seoul.
According to the government and others on the 23rd, the Minister and the mayor will meet again this week, following last week, to coordinate policies to supply dwellings in Seoul, including Yongsan Park.
In their meeting on the 20th, the two sides only confirmed a clear difference in positions over using the main site of Yongsan Park for dwelling supply. The Minister said in a briefing after the meeting, "The issues are the deliberation and discussion process to supply part of Yongsan Park as dwellings for young people, newlyweds, and multi-child households, and the attitude and thinking about changing the law," adding, "There was a clear difference of opinion on this. Mayor Oh opposed it in principle, and I supported it."
Mayor Oh also held a briefing at Seoul City Hall and said, "In conclusion, on Yongsan Park today, we were on parallel lines," adding, "I conveyed in a very strong tone that under no circumstances can the Seoul city government agree to converting the entire Yongsan Park site to apartment use." He added, "It is difficult to agree to converting any portion of the entire site, even a limited area, to residential use," and "Using even the expression that agreeing to that would leave me, as the mayor of Seoul, as a sinner before history, I made the city's position clear."
Accordingly, at this meeting, an alternative to first developing sites around the park is coming to the negotiating table. Key targets include Camp Kim, the Itaewon Defense Finance and Management Service site, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs parking lot, and the Bank of Korea housing site in Huam-dong. However, analysis notes that even if all these sites are combined, they do not match the size of the core candidate, the Children's Garden site, making it difficult to secure the large volume the government is aiming for.
Meanwhile, this discussion is expected to cover options for going through a public deliberation process, such as a forum or creating a new committee. Attention is also focusing on whether easing floor area ratio incentives for private reconstruction and redevelopment projects, which the Seoul city government has continuously requested, will serve as a new variable in this week's dwellings supply talks.