Oh Se-hoon: 'Parallel Lines' Drawn in Meeting with Land Minister on Yongsan Park, Offered Compromise

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon stated today (the 20th) that he met with Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Yoon-deok to discuss the issue of supplying housing within Yongsan Park, but failed to narrow their differences.

Following the meeting with Minister Kim at an undisclosed location in Seoul, Mayor Oh returned to City Hall and held a briefing, saying, "I met with Minister Kim to discuss several pending issues, and in conclusion, our positions on Yongsan Park were parallel lines."

"I firmly stated in a strong tone that Seoul cannot agree under any circumstances to building apartment complexes on the entire Yongsan Park site," he added, noting, "I also emphasized that agreeing to this would result in remaining as a historical sinner as mayor."

Mayor Oh reiterated, "Yongsan Park is directly linked to the quality of life and leisure of Seoul citizens and is a major part of the green axis connecting Namsan to the Han River," adding, "It is difficult to agree to converting even a portion of the entire site for residential use."

However, Mayor Oh stated that he offered a compromise, saying that discussions could be held on supplying housing by utilizing government-owned land scattered around the periphery of Yongsan Park.

"I proposed a sort of compromise to discuss flexibly regarding scattered sites near Yongsan Park," Mayor Oh said, mentioning locations such as the Camp Kim site, the Gyeongnidan site, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs parking lot site.

Regarding the possibility that the government and the ruling party might push for housing supply within Yongsan Park through an amendment to the Special Act on Yongsan Park, Mayor Oh expressed hope that public sentiment among citizens would act as a braking mechanism.

"While the People Power Party is a minority party and practically lacks the power to block changes to the law in the National Assembly," he said, "many Seoul citizens will agree that Yongsan Park must be maintained and managed as a living space to be passed down to future generations 100 or 200 years from now."

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