Kim Yun-duk, Oh Se-hoon to Meet Again This Week... "If Yongsan Park Is Not Possible, Start Outside the Fence"

[Financial News] The gap between the government and Seoul over the main site of Yongsan Park will be tested again this week. After the meeting on the 20th between Kim Yun-duk and Oh Se-hoon ended with little more than a confirmation of each side’s position, a compromise plan to first open up state- and city-owned land outside the park’s fence was put on the negotiating table. However, the combined area of the sites under discussion still falls far short of the supply target the government has in mind, leaving a major obstacle in place.
According to the government and Seoul Metropolitan Government on the 23rd, Kim and Oh will sit down again sometime this week to coordinate housing supply issues in central Seoul, including Yongsan Park. The meeting will come just three days after their last one and, if the private meeting held on the 24th of last month is included, will be their third since the Aug. 13 policy package.
The outcome of the meeting on the 20th was effectively a blank slate. In a briefing at Seoul Metropolitan Government after the meeting, Oh said, "In the end, we were deadlocked today on Yongsan Park," adding, "I made it very clear, in strong terms, that Seoul cannot agree under any circumstances to converting the entire Yongsan Park site into apartments." He continued, "It is difficult to agree even to converting a limited portion of the entire site for residential use," and added that he had made Seoul’s position clear by saying that agreeing to it would "leave me as a sinner in history as mayor of Seoul."
Kim also made the disagreement plain in a briefing that same day. He said, "The issue is the process of deliberation and discussion over using part of Yongsan Park for housing for young people, newlyweds and large families, as well as the attitude toward changing the law," adding, "Our views were clearly different. Mayor Oh is opposed in principle, and I am in favor."
As efforts to find common ground stalled, attention turned to alternative sites around the park. The first candidates under review include the Armed Forces Financial Management Corps site in Itaewon, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs parking lot, and a Bank of Korea housing site in Huam-dong. These locations were proposed as alternatives by Kwon Young-se of the People Power Party, who represents Seoul and Yongsan District. Their reported sizes are 17,925 square meters for the Armed Forces Financial Management Corps site, 4,377 square meters for the BOK residence, and 3,979 square meters for the Foreign Ministry parking lot.
The arithmetic problem becomes clear here. Given that the Yongsan Children's Garden site being discussed within the main area is about 300,000 square meters, even gathering all the surrounding sites would amount to only about one-quarter of that size. In other words, it would be difficult to secure the volume the government has in mind. On the other hand, if the Yongsan Children's Garden site were used, industry estimates say that raising the floor area ratio to 500 percent could allow for 10,000 units based on 59 to 84 square meters of exclusive floor area, and up to 20,000 units under a high-density development plan focused on smaller homes.
A legal hurdle also remains. The current Special Act on the Creation of Yongsan Park explicitly prohibits housing construction on the main site, which covers the former U.S. military base’s Main Post and South Post. Of the park’s total 3 million square meters, 2.43 million square meters fall into this category.
A revision bill pending in the National Assembly centers on easing the standards for securing park and green space in multi-use development zones such as Camp Kim. It was introduced in March and passed the Legislation and Judiciary Committee in May. It had originally been considered for passage in the plenary session on the 20th, but was postponed to the 26th to reflect the results of talks between the two sides. Kim has already drawn a line, saying the bill is still separate from the current discussion on housing supply at Yongsan Park.
The upcoming meeting is also expected to cover ways of building public consensus, such as holding a forum or creating a committee. Another new variable in the negotiations is Seoul’s long-standing demand for easing floor area ratio incentives for private reconstruction and redevelopment projects. In response to criticism that Oh supports lifting the greenbelt designation in the Seoripul district while opposing development at Yongsan Park, he has argued that he agreed only on the condition that housing for newlyweds be secured in areas where functions have already been damaged.
[email protected] An Seung-hyun Reporter