Bae Jeong-han, a professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Seoul National University, said, "No part of Yongsan Park is a suitable site for the rapid supply of dwellings."
At an "emergency forum to protect Yongsan Park" hosted on the 4th by the civic groups Seoul Green Trust, the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, and Forest for Life, Bae said, "Apartments that won't be ready for move-in until 2040 cannot rein in housing prices," and stated accordingly.
Bae has been a "Yongsan Park expert" who has studied the creation of Yongsan Park for more than 20 years. He has participated in the park's development since the government first conceived turning the Yongsan base into a park in 2005. Since last year, he has served as president of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture.
The forum was convened as the government reviewed a plan to supply dwellings by using some damaged sites within Yongsan Park, such as officers' housing and military apartments.
Bae assessed that supplying dwellings within Yongsan Park is realistically impossible. That is because the entire main site of Yongsan Park must be returned before soil contamination surveys and remediation can begin, and the return process is being delayed. The main site, which previously housed a U.S. military base, has only 31.5% (764,000 square meters) returned so far.
Bae also noted that the Yongsan Children's Garden seemed to have been pushed forward hastily at the time of opening by laying a green carpet without detailed design, and projected that, considering soil contamination surveys and remediation, as well as development and construction timelines, move-ins would not be possible until close to 2040. That runs counter to the government's stated aim of immediately increasing the supply of dwellings.
Bae pointed out that even if apartments are built in Yongsan Park, the actual supply effect would not be significant. The former Defense Acquisition Program Administration site and military apartment site, which are being discussed as candidate locations, sit at high elevations that would block views of Namsan; even if the Children's Garden site (about 300,000 square meters) is included, it would still be difficult to reach the government's pledged "20,000 households."
Bae cited an apartment complex of similar size as an example. He said, "Helio City in Songpa District, the largest apartment complex in Seoul, was built on a site of 346,000 square meters with 84 buildings 110 meters tall and a floor area ratio of 286%, yet it accommodates only about 9,510 households," adding, "Considering the War Memorial of Korea and the National Museum of Korea, the number of households that could practically be accommodated (on the Yongsan Park site) would be even smaller."
Bae also said that a plan to expand the dwelling site to 600,000 square meters—20% of the entire park—and raise the floor area ratio to 1,000% to accommodate 60,000 households would "collapse Seoul's urban fabric, landscape structure, and transportation system in one blow."
Bae said it is time for the government to focus not on viewing Yongsan Park as a site for supplying dwellings, but on diplomatic negotiations to secure the return of the entire site. He emphasized that specific plans are also needed for environmental surveys, methods of remediating contaminated soil, and the allocation of expense.
Bae then proposed establishing a Yongsan Park Corporation to take the lead in developing Yongsan Park, saying, "It could compensate for the limitations of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), which focuses on large-scale development and civil engineering projects."