[Anchor]

The government is pushing to supply youth public housing at the Yongsan Children's Garden in Seoul. While it is estimated that up to 20,000 units could be built, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who attended a cabinet meeting, made his opposition clear.

Here is reporter Park Yerim with the details.

[Reporter]

The 3-million-square-meter Yongsan Park site located in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

Formerly a U.S. military base, it is comparable in size to Yeouido in Seoul.

Among this area, the 300,000-square-meter Yongsan Children's Garden, located to the left of the National Museum of Korea and accounting for 10% of the total site, was opened to the public in 2023.

The government is now pursuing a plan to supply youth public housing on this site.

Projections suggest that up to 20,000 units could be supplied if the floor area ratio is increased and the design focuses on small-sized units.

On the 14th, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Yoon-duk stated, "Our determination to overcome issues such as consultations with the U.S. military and the purification of contaminated soil to build homes is clear," mentioning not only the Children's Garden but the entire Yongsan Park site as a candidate for housing supply.

Some analyze that because Seoul City and the opposition party oppose the development of Yongsan Park, the government is trying to break through the opposition by using the justification of "resolving youth housing instability."

A Cheong Wa Dae official also stated, "Regarding the necessity of supplying housing on the park site, the government has conveyed its intent to Seoul City multiple times."

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who attended the cabinet meeting, wrote on social media that he expressed his opposition during the meeting, stating, "We must not exhaust even the share of future generations just because housing supply is urgently needed right now."

[Oh Se-hoon / Mayor of Seoul: Trying to put apartments into Yongsan Park even by revising the special act cannot be a policy that a single administration can choose based on its immediate needs at any given moment.]

During the cabinet meeting, President Lee Jae-myung asked Mayor Oh if there were ways to ease regulations to increase private supply.

[Kang Yu-jung / Senior Spokesperson for Cheong Wa Dae: (President Lee) meticulously checked whether the authority to grant permits for large-scale redevelopment and reconstruction maintenance projects as well as small-scale individual construction lies with the district offices or the city....]

When Mayor Oh replied that it would involve easing floor area ratio regulations and lowering public rental housing ratios, President Lee responded that while the goal is to increase supply, it must not heighten the possibility of causing housing prices to skyrocket, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Video Reported by Jeong Sang-bo and Ha Ryung | Video Edited by Nam Il | Design by Han Heung-su and Kim Ye-ji)