Yongsan Children's Garden Under Review for Housing? Hurdles Face Sites Nationwide

[Anchor]

The second real estate policy inspection meeting addressing metropolitan housing supply measures, presided over by President Lee Jae-myung, began at 2 p.m. today (the 7th) and concluded a short while ago. Following the supply measures announced by the government last January, Yongsan Children's Garden and other locations are now being reviewed as additional sites, but the challenges to be resolved are significant.

Reporter Park Jae-yeon has the details.

[Reporter]

The Yongsan Children's Garden, formerly a US military base site.

After being returned to the South Korean government, it was fully opened to the public in December of last year.

Following the Yongsan International Business District, which was included in the government's January 29 housing supply measures, this location is also known to be under review as an additional site.

However, the issue of cleaning up the contaminated soil in consultation with the US military from when the site was used as a base remains unresolved.

During the so-called "seven-hour marathon inspection meeting" presided over by President Lee Jae-myung on the 3rd, a plan called "purification first, negotiation later" was reviewed, under which the South Korean government would first carry out soil purification work and then negotiate cost-sharing with the US military side.

While the aim is to accelerate the securing of the site, some observe that the purification work alone will take years, and constructing housing will take even longer.

Another variable is the opposition from the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Yongsan District, citing reasons such as the need to "protect green spaces."

[Real Estate Agent in Yongsan District, Seoul]: "(Residents in this neighborhood) would probably dislike it. Because more people will crowd in. A significant reason why apartment prices are high is likely because this park is well-maintained. If this place becomes a housing district... ."

Among the target sites of the January 29 measures, quite a few are facing slow progress in project implementation.

The Taereung Golf Course site in Nowon-gu, Seoul, where the government announced the supply of 6,800 households, remains a homework assignment amid persistent backlash from local residents concerned about traffic congestion and a lack of infrastructure.

The racecourse and former Defense Security Command site in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, are also experiencing slow project progress due to opposition from the Korea Racing Authority labor union and local residents.

Rival parties engaged in a sharp war of words today over the real estate supply measures.

[Han Byeong-do / Democratic Party Floor Leader]: "Have you all forgotten that housing construction starts dropped significantly during the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, and that housing supply was delayed while construction of the 3rd-generation new towns dragged on? The same goes for Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon."

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon argued, "During the 10 years of the Democratic Party administration under former Mayor Park Won-soon, Seoul lost opportunities to supply as many as 430,000 homes."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Reported by Kang Dong-cheol | Video editing by Won Hyung-hee)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.