Land minister, Seoul mayor fail to bridge gap on government's Yongsan Park housing plans

Land Minister Kim Yun-duk met Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on Wednesday to revisit the central government’s plans to construct housing at Yongsan Park, but the two again failed to narrow their differences. They did, however, make progress on the mayor’s proposal to use Tancheon Water Recycling Center in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, as an alternative site.

“We have yet to narrow our differences over Yongsan Park,” Kim told reporters after meeting Oh at a restaurant in Jung District, central Seoul. “[The government’s] position is that housing should be built on a limited basis in areas that were previously used as [military] residential quarters within Yongsan Park, while Mayor Oh’s position is that, in principle, [the park] should not be used for housing.”

The site formerly hosted a U.S. military garrison.

The government has stated that Yongsan Park in Yongsan District, central Seoul, will become one of Seoul’s largest green spaces once development is complete. So far, only limited sections are open to the public, with the government still finalizing plans for the rest of the land.

Kim and Oh had their first meeting last Thursday, which ended with Kim saying that they had confirmed their differences.

On Wednesday, the minister told reporters that he intends to meet the mayor again when asked whether the two will meet next week.

But the prevailing view in the real estate industry is that the two sides are unlikely to find common ground on Yongsan Park.

They also made no headway on the number of homes to be built in the Yongsan International Business District. The government announced in its Jan. 29 housing measures that it would supply 10,000 homes there, but the Seoul Metropolitan Government maintains that the area can accommodate up to 8,000.

“There is a much bigger and more important issue [Yongsan Park] before us, so regarding the Yongsan International Business District, we believe that is something that we can work out later through discussions,” Kim said.

But the two made progress on Oh’s proposal regarding the Tancheon Water Recycling Center as an alternative site.

“[The government] will need to receive and analyze the relevant data before we can say more, but we discussed actively reviewing the possibility of using the center for housing,” Kim said.

The proposal calls for supplying 13,000 homes on the 390,000-square-meter (96.4-acre) area in Irwon-dong in Gangnam.

Kim, however, declined to elaborate on the specific locations of the 73,000 new homes that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport described in its Aug. 13 housing measures.

“We will discuss the matter first and then provide details,” he said.

But a Land Ministry official stated that the sites for all 73,000 housing units are in Gyeonggi, with related consultations nearly complete.

“Sites in Seoul may be added on top of that through further discussions,” the official said.

Kim also made clear that Yongsan Park was never included in the 73,000-home plan.

When the August housing measures were announced, the land minister said that consultations had already been completed for the 73,000 homes; the government began publicly discussing Yongsan Park only afterward.

“Yongsan Park was never part of the 73,000 homes,” Kim said. “Housing there would only be possible after the Special Act on the Creation of Yongsan Park is amended, and it would also require cooperation from the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Yongsan District Office.”

“We maintain our position that housing supply within Yongsan Park should be discussed through a process of public deliberation,” he added, indicating that talks would continue.

BY KIM JUN-YOUNG [[email protected]]