A brake has been put on the Namsan gondola project pushed by Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon. The Seoul Metropolitan Government changed the zoning of part of Namsan to build the gondola, and a court accepted a request to cancel that change. Still, the city says that if the enforcement decree of the relevant law is revised, it can resume construction regardless of the ruling. If that happens, the "64-year monopoly" of the Namsan cable car would be broken.
◇ Seoul's zoning change ruled "illegal" for failing to meet requirements of the enforcement decree of the Parks and Greenery Act
The Administrative Division 6 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Na Jin-i) on the 19th ruled for the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by the Namsan cable car operator Hanguk Sagdokong-eop and others seeking to cancel Seoul's urban management plan decision.
To install the gondola, the city announced in Feb. last year that it would build five steel towers (supports) in parts of Namsan. Under the plan, two 45–50-meter towers would be installed in areas that fall within the Namsan Urban Natural Park Zone. In an Aug. notice the same year, the city made an urban management plan decision to exclude the land for the two towers from the Urban Natural Park Zone and incorporate it into Namsan 1 Neighborhood Park.
However, under the current Parks and Greenery Act, structures higher than 12 meters cannot be installed within an Urban Natural Park Zone. Hanguk Sagdokong-eop and others argued that the city decided on a zoning change that violated the criteria for lifting an Urban Natural Park Zone and filed a suit to have it canceled. The court found the zoning change illegal because it failed to meet the requirements set out in the enforcement decree of the Parks and Greenery Act.
The city said it would immediately appeal, calling the ruling one that excluded the public interest. Arguing that it met the requirements for changing the Urban Natural Park Zone, the city said, "In the appeals court, we will clearly prove its legality, policy necessity, and public interest."
Earlier, the Seoul Administrative Court granted an injunction filed alongside the main suit. Construction has been halted for more than a year.
◇ Hanguk Sagdokong-eop pays 100 million won in state land use fees on 19.5 billion won in annual revenue
Hanguk Sagdokong-eop has exclusively operated the Namsan cable car for 64 years since 1962. The company was founded by the late Han Seok-jin, who served as president of Daehan Flour Mills, then one of the country's largest companies, and has remained a family business to this day. In 2023, it posted 19.5 billion won in revenue, paid only 100 million won in state land use fees, and made no other public contributions.
This happened because in Aug. 1961, three months after the May 16 coup, the government approved Hanguk Sagdokong-eop's cable car business without setting an end date. The fare is 12,000 won one way for adults, and it can carry about 500 people per hour. With strong demand, riders often wait about two hours on weekends.
The city announced a plan to build a gondola on Namsan that could break the monopoly. In Sep. 2024, it held a groundbreaking ceremony at Yejang Park, the planned site of the lower station. The plan calls for service over an 832-meter section between the site, 200 meters from Myeong-dong Station, and the top of Namsan (upper station). With 25 10-passenger gondolas, it could carry more than 2,000 people per hour.
If all went as scheduled, construction would be completed in Nov. this year and official service would begin next spring, but construction stopped after Hanguk Sagdokong-eop filed suit against the city.
Hanguk Sagdokong-eop argued that the city changed part of Namsan from an Urban Natural Park Zone to a Neighborhood Park to erect five reinforced concrete pillars for the gondola without going through steps including an environmental impact assessment. Some college students and residents also filed similar suits, citing concerns about harming Soong Eui Women's College's educational environment and obstructing views for nearby residents.
◇ President Lee: "Why has a particular individual enjoyed special favors for decades?"
The Seoul Metropolitan Government says that even if it ultimately loses the lawsuit, it can resume construction if the enforcement decree of the Parks and Greenery Act is revised. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in June gave advance notice of a revision easing the enforcement decree provision that limits building heights to 12 meters within Urban Natural Park Zones.
Legislation aimed at resolving the Namsan cable car's monopoly structure itself is also moving forward in the National Assembly. On the 17th, the Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee passed an amendment to the Railway Transportation Act that limits the validity period of permits for cable cars and similar systems to a maximum of 20 years and requires renewal when the period expires. If the bill passes the National Assembly and is promulgated, it will also apply to Hanguk Sagdokong-eop.
President Lee Jae-myung at a Cabinet meeting on the 16th referred to the Namsan cable car operating rights and said, "Why has a particular individual enjoyed special favors for decades by 'swimming with feet on the ground'?" adding, "Benefits should be shared as much as possible with everyone, or at least with the majority."
The city plans to systematically push forward the "Better Namsan revitalization plan" to refurbish Namsan into a global attraction. Kim Chang-gyu, head of balanced development at City Hall, said, "We will steadily pursue policies to restore access to Namsan and return it as 'everyone's Namsan.'"