Told to Relocate to Provinces, Public Agency 'Stakes Claim' on Youth Housing Site?

[Anchor]

The South Korean government has set a principle of relocating more public agencies based in the capital area to provincial regions. However, it has been confirmed that one public agency is pushing to move into Yongsan Park in Seoul. While the government is reviewing this site for supplying rental housing for young people, the agency is even preparing to divert funds earmarked for research and development to cover its relocation costs.

Reporter Kim Kwan-jin has this exclusive report.

[Reporter]

This is the former site of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration inside Yongsan Park in Seoul.

Located in the northern section of the park, this area was mentioned by the government last month as one of the candidate sites for new housing supplies, including rental housing for youth.

[Kim Yoon-duk / Then Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Last month, at a plenary meeting of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee): "There is the former DAPA site, and there are some areas that have already completely lost their function as green space."]

However, it has been confirmed that the Defense Rapid Acquisition Technology Research Institute, an affiliate of the Agency for Defense Development currently based in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, is pushing to move into a building on this former DAPA site.

The somewhat dated building seen behind me was formerly used as an office by the Defense Media Agency.

The institute plans to set up its new office in that building.

According to internal documents obtained by SBS, the institute allocated a budget of 1.88 billion won for remodeling the building and establishing infrastructure for the office relocation.

It was also revealed that the institute drew up plans to fund 1.22 billion won of that amount using research and development reserve funds from the Agency for Defense Development.

While the government is pursuing a "second phase of public agency relocations" and reviewing Yongsan Park as a candidate site for housing supply, the institute appears to be defying the provincial relocation policy by moving into Yongsan Park.

Criticism is mounting over whether this constitutes "staking a claim" in Seoul.

[Boo Seung-chan / Member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee (Democratic Party of Korea): "There has never been a mismatch quite like this; it is completely unacceptable. Especially in a situation where real estate supply is falling off a cliff, they should approach these matters with great caution and actively align with government policies."]

The institute told SBS that "the relocation discussions have been held in consultation with relevant authorities, including the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, so there is no issue."

However, critics point out that a government-level inspection is necessary to examine whether the move complies with the principle of relocating public agencies to the provinces as well as the broader blueprint for utilizing the Yongsan Park site.

Video by Oh Young-chun, Lee Seung-hwan, and Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by Lee So-young | Graphics by Kim Ye-ji and Hwang Se-yeon
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.