Seoul Mayor Proposes Tancheon Over Yongsan for Housing; Closed-Door Meeting Today

[Anchor]

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has proposed building youth housing at the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center in Gangnam instead of the Yongsan Children's Garden. Mayor Oh and Land Minister Kim Yun-deok are holding a closed-door meeting today (the 26th) to discuss this issue.

Reporter Yun Nara has the details.

[Reporter]

Entering the park entrance, sports facilities such as a park and tennis courts are on the left, and water reclamation facilities are on the right.

This is the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center in Seoul.

Spanning 393,000 square meters in Irwon-dong, Gangnam-gu, it is located right next to Daecheong Station on Subway Line 3.

With Daemosan Mountain nearby and the Tancheon stream flowing alongside, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has proposed this site as a location for supplying youth housing.

The city argues that it is larger than the 300,000-square-meter Yongsan Children's Garden site, offers convenient transportation, and has better surrounding conditions, including the natural environment.

[Oh Se-hoon / Mayor of Seoul: We can secure between 10,000 and 13,000 units (at Tancheon). This is presenting an alternative to create a truly desirable residential complex rather than touching a part of the Yongsan Park that should be passed down to future generations.]

In particular, the city claimed that while relocating the water reclamation center and supplying housing on the site would take about 10 years, Yongsan could take up to 10 years just to break ground due to the relocation of the U.S. military base and the purification of contaminated soil.

Regarding Mayor Oh's proposal for an alternative site, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport stated that it has not reviewed the area and has no particular official stance.

At the National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, the government and the Democratic Party repeatedly reaffirmed their determination to supply housing on the Yongsan Children's Garden site.

[Heo Jong-sik / Member of the Democratic Party: The Seoul Metropolitan Government is making a fuss about building apartments on green space, which is the lungs of Seoul, and are you just going to stay still? It is right to build only on damaged areas, not the green space of Yongsan.]

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Land Minister Kim Yun-deok are scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting. Key issues are expected to include the supply of housing at the Yongsan Children's Garden and Tancheon Water Reclamation Center, as well as the transfer of licensing authority for redevelopment and reconstruction projects of 500 households or fewer to autonomous districts.

(Camera Reporter: Kim Heung-gi, Video Editor: Yoon Tae-ho)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.