Yongsan Park Push vs. Residents' Campaign: MOLIT and Seoul Remain at an Impasse

The meeting between Seoul Metropolitan City Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Yun-duk on the 20th ultimately only confirmed their differences over housing supply at Yongsan Park. Both sides said they would continue consultations, but the gap in their positions appears unlikely to narrow.
If talks drag on, the amendment to the Special Act on the Creation of Yongsan Park could pass the National Assembly plenary session under the leadership of the ruling party. Since the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport holds the authority to approve public housing district projects, including youth housing, local governments such as the Seoul Metropolitan Government would, in principle, have no power to object if the special act is revised.
■The special act could be revised, but public opinion remains a variable
According to the real estate industry, housing supply at Yongsan Park would require partial revisions to the Special Act on the Creation of Yongsan Park to establish a legal basis. Earlier, the ruling and opposition parties had planned to handle the amendment bill in the plenary session that day, but they pushed the timing back to next week to reflect the outcome of talks between the Seoul Metropolitan Government and MOLIT.
The problem is that there was no progress in the meeting that day. Since both sides agreed to meet again next week and continue discussions, the bill's passage in the plenary session is also expected to be delayed.
The ruling party could still push the amendment through, but public opinion remains a key variable. Speaking to reporters that day, Oh said, "Because the People Power Party is a minority party, it has virtually no power to block revisions to the bill. But I believe many Seoul citizens will agree with the idea of turning hard-to-secure land like the Yongsan site into a park and passing it on to future generations, even 100 to 200 years from now."
Yongsan District has a similar view. In a phone interview with this paper, a Yongsan District official said, "There are essential procedures in which local governments must participate, such as resident hearings and public briefings during the collection of residents' opinions and environmental impact assessments. We may not be able to oppose the permit process itself, but we can state Yongsan District's position or convey public sentiment."
■Yongsan residents push back, and petition support surges
Resistance from Yongsan residents is also strong. On the National Assembly e-Petition System, the petition titled "Petition opposing the revision of the Yongsan Park special act and calling for the suspension of housing supply plans on the Yongsan Park site" has gathered support from about 25,000 people. That is more than four times the roughly 6,000 supporters it had on the 17th, just three days earlier.
Meanwhile, the meeting that day also covered housing supply in the International Business District and easing loan regulations, in addition to housing supply at Yongsan Park. In particular, Oh was reported to have emphasized lifting loan restrictions and easing regulations. He proposed, "For young people, lifting loan restrictions feels like a truly effective measure, more so than supplying youth rental housing. For example, the Didimdol loan has a set limit, but if the eligible home price were raised to around 900 million won and the loan cap increased to around 600 million won, there would be no better news for young people."
Oh also mentioned revising the enforcement decree of the Special Act on Public Housing so that provincial and city governors could be given discretion to set detailed eligibility requirements for long-term jeonse housing, as well as lowering the threshold for guarantee insurance from HUG.
[email protected] Kwon Jun-ho, Jang In-seo Reporter