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Work on long-delayed Yongsan International Business District to begin on Nov. 27

Published: 16 Nov. 2025, 17:24

A rendered image of the Yongsan International Business District [SEOUL METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT]

After more than a decade in limbo, the long-delayed development of the Yongsan International Business District is set to begin on Nov. 27, the Seoul city government announced Sunday.

The project will transform the 456,100-square-meter (45.6 hectares) site of the former Yongsan train depot — considered the last major undeveloped plot in central Seoul — into a high-density vertical city. The site connects Seoul Station, Yongsan Station and the Han River waterfront, and the city plans to leverage this central location to develop a new core business district.

Seoul aims to complete foundational infrastructure — including roads, parks and parking lots — by 2028, with residential and commercial move-ins expected to begin as early as 2030. The project is being jointly developed by Korea Railroad Corporation and the Seoul Housing and Urban Development Corporation, which hold land shares at a ratio of 7 to 3. A city official said the decision to appoint two public entities as developers was made to ensure both public value and project stability.

The Yongsan International Business District will be divided into three zones: international business, mixed-use business and business support. The international business zone — considered the linchpin of the entire development — will be rezoned from a Category 3 residential area to a central commercial district to allow for high-density, mixed-use development. Covering 82,938 square meters, the area is designed to accommodate a cluster of skyscrapers, including towers over 100 stories, to attract global corporations. Seoul also plans to launch targeted campaigns to recruit anchor tenants.

The city is also prioritizing housing supply that residents can feel on the ground. It plans to finalize its land development and sales approval process in the first half of next year, aiming to begin housing sales by late 2027. The current plan calls for 13,000 new housing units within and around the development, but officials are also reviewing the feasibility of increasing that number. The final decision will depend on the capacity of the surrounding infrastructure, with consultations underway with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.

The proposal to expand housing supply on the Yongsan site has recently gained traction within the ruling party, with some officials floating the figure of 20,000 units. However, reaching that number would require a complete overhaul of the existing development plan. “Revising the plan from scratch would take at least two years due to administrative procedures,” a city official said. “Rather than rewriting the entire infrastructure plan, a more realistic solution is to expedite the current housing rollout.”

If implemented as planned, the city estimates the Yongsan development could generate 3.3 trillion won ($2.3 billion) in annual economic output. “This is not just an urban development project — it is a reinvention of Seoul’s core and a launchpad for the next 100 years,” said Im Chang-su, director of Seoul’s future urban planning office. “By fusing technology, culture and human-centered design, this project will play a pivotal role in elevating Seoul into a top five global city.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM MIN-WOOK [[email protected]]