Yongsan Park Housing Plan Sparks Political Clash Over Green Space vs. Youth Needs

The South Korean government's official announcement to explore potential sites within the entire Yongsan Park area for youth housing has ignited a political firestorm. The ruling party and government are considering additional locations for housing development, including the National Defense Management Agency site in Gyeongnidan-gil, Itaewon.

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Yongsan Park was made into a national park for citizens' relaxation space like New York's Central Park by President Roh Moo-hyun, and even presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung promised it, but you are overturning even that campaign promise.

Opposition lawmakers have strongly criticized the move. Rep. Kim Eun-hye of the People Power Party argued during a parliamentary session that the park's designation as a national park, intended as a public relaxation space akin to New York's Central Park, was a promise made by former President Roh Moo-hyun and later by presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung. She accused the Democratic Party of breaking this promise to return the returned U.S. military land to the public as a green space.

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We are not planning to develop the entire Yongsan Park. We are reviewing whether housing can be limitedly supplied in areas where green function has been lost.

Conversely, the government has sought to temper the controversy, emphasizing that the entire park will not be developed. Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mee stated that the review is limited to areas within Yongsan Park that have lost their green function. She assured that any identified spaces would be allocated for youth and newlywed housing, while acknowledging the public's demand to preserve green spaces for future generations.

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The story of Yongsan (development) is unavoidable for supplying affordable housing to young people on public land.

The severe youth housing shortage is a primary justification for the government's proposal. Rep. Kim Nam-geun of the Democratic Party argued that developing public land in Yongsan for affordable youth housing is unavoidable. Ha Jun-kyung, Senior Secretary to the President for Economic Growth, also appeared on TV, stressing the importance of utilizing the prime Yongsan land effectively to enable young people to marry and have children. He added that building housing does not preclude creating a park of appropriate size, balancing utility with the need to provide good living spaces for future generations.

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It is important to use this prime land well. We want young people to use it well so they can get married and have children.