Oh Se-hoon Fires Preemptive Warning Against Yongsan Housing Supply Plans

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon opened fire during the Citizens Open Debate for Real Estate Normalization held at Seoul City Hall today (August 6), mentioning recent press reports that the government is reviewing the supply of apartments in the Yongsan Children's Garden.

[Oh Se-hoon / Mayor of Seoul: Amidst these reports leaking out, I feel a sense of anxiety. When the central government devises housing supply measures utilizing state-owned land, it does not consult with Seoul City in advance.]

He directly criticized the move over concerns that the government might make a final decision and notify Seoul City only afterward, firmly drawing the line on Seoul's position.

[Oh Se-hoon / Mayor of Seoul: I want to make it clear that Yongsan Park can never be used, even in part, for such housing supply purposes, and we cannot agree to it.]

He repeatedly emphasized that Seoul City's position is to preserve the entire Yongsan Park site—returned by the U.S. military—as green space to pass down to future generations.

It is known that the government recently explored the possibility of housing supply centered around the Yongsan Children's Garden while reviewing measures to expand housing supply.

The Yongsan Children's Garden is a space where about 300,000 square meters of the Yongsan base site returned by the U.S. military was temporarily opened starting in 2023. The possibility of housing supply was raised after the government lifted some of the surrounding restricted protection zones last month.

Even though Seoul City does not hold ownership of the land, Mayor Oh threw a check against the government, asserting that it should not make unilateral decisions since the matter greatly impacts Seoul's urban planning and citizens' lives.

Mayor Oh also publicly expressed concerns regarding the government's real estate policy stance.

He stated that remarks made by President Lee Jae-myung questioning the housing supply effects of reconstruction and redevelopment during a recent real estate public debate hosted by the government could send a wrong signal to the market that the government is passive toward urban maintenance projects. He added that he conveyed these concerns to Chief of Policy Kim Yong-beom yesterday.

Mayor Oh argued that expansion of supply through maintenance projects remains crucial, noting that housing units increase by an average of about 40% for reconstruction and about 25% for redevelopment.

(Reported by Kim Minjeong, Video edited by Lee Yu-jin, Design by Yang Hye-min, Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.