Land Minister: Yongsan Not Included in New Housing Sites; Tancheon Data to Be Reviewed

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Yoon-duk and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon met again today (the 26th) to discuss pending housing supply issues, but failed to narrow their differences over utilizing Yongsan Park for housing supply.

Following their meeting at an undisclosed location in Seoul, Minister Kim said in a press briefing, "I think we have not reached a consensus [regarding Yongsan Park], but it seems we have cleared up many misunderstandings."

While the government has been reviewing the use of sites within the main Yongsan Park area, such as the Children's Garden, for housing supply, the Seoul City government opposes the plan, emphasizing the historical and green significance of the park.

During their previous meeting on the 20th, the two officials also only confirmed their differing stances on the Yongsan Park issue.

Minister Kim stated, "It seems our sincerity in trying to construct housing for young adults and newlyweds in limited parts of Yongsan Park was somewhat conveyed," while adding, "Mayor Oh maintains the stance that touching the main body of Yongsan Park is unacceptable."

"There was never a premise that it had to be Yongsan Park," Minister Kim explained. "Supplying housing for young adults and newlyweds is crucial, and we began to ponder whether supplying housing in a limited manner to areas where [park and green functions] have already been damaged could serve as an alternative, and the government's intent is to pursue this through a public debate process."

Yongsan Park is not expected to be included in the additional public housing district scale of "73,000 households plus alpha" that the government plans to announce as early as the end of next month.

Minister Kim said, "[Yongsan Park] was not included from the beginning. The specific sites within Yongsan Park are obvious, such as the officers' quarters and the former Defense Acquisition Program Administration site. However, they will be materialized through the public debate process, and since the targets are already identified, we will review them. That said, specific discussions such as 'this site is acceptable and this site is not' have not taken place."

He added, "Yongsan Park requires a special law revision as a result of public deliberation. Even so, it is only possible with the cooperation of local governments such as Seoul City or district offices, and since it proceeds through this process, it is also a problem if Yongsan Park becomes too big of an issue."

Additional housing sites, including Yongsan Park and previously discussed greenbelt areas within Seoul such as the Naegok-dong Reserve Forces Training Ground in Seocho-gu, are likely to be excluded.

Seoul City has consistently expressed strong opposition to housing supply through the lifting of greenbelt restrictions.

It is anticipated that additional housing sites are likely to be centered around Gyeonggi Province.

When asked, "Does the 73,000-household plan only include Gyeonggi Province?", Minister Kim responded, "If handled improperly, it could distort the market. We will discuss it and provide an answer later."

During the meeting, the two sides reached a consensus to review the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center in Gangnam-gu, which was proposed by Seoul City as an alternative site, for housing supply.

Minister Kim stated, "Mayor Oh requested that the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center be reviewed, and since we have no data on it whatsoever, he said it was necessary, so we decided to provide the available data right away. We will need to receive and analyze that data before we can discuss anything further. We had a conversation with Mayor Oh with the intent to actively review it."

Minister Kim plans to pursue another meeting with Mayor Oh next week.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.