Mayor Oh Se-hoon Says, "Park Preservation Does Not Mean Opposing Housing Supply"

[Financial News] Oh Se-hoon, the Seoul Metropolitan City Mayor, stressed that Yongsan Park is "a place that holds the pain of history, where the Military of the Qing dynasty, the Imperial Japanese military, and the U.S. military were stationed for more than 120 years. We must preserve its history and natural environment and pass it on to future generations."
On the 24th, Oh explained his position through the Seoul Metropolitan Government website and Live Seoul's "One-Shot Mayor - Yongsan Park Edition," addressing why Yongsan Park should be preserved, claims about using "damaged land," the return of the U.S. military base and contaminated soil cleanup, and transportation and infrastructure issues.
He added, "Yongsan Park can become a symbolic green space in the heart of the city, like Central Park in New York or Hyde Park in London," and said it should be preserved as originally planned.
He pushed back against the government's plan to use areas with existing facilities such as military apartments, officers' quarters, and DAPA land inside the Yongsan Park site for housing supply, saying the planned park is a place that was meant to be restored into a green park with grass and trees after removing the remaining buildings and concrete. He also warned that opening the door to housing use on part of the main site could set a precedent for further development in other areas depending on future housing market conditions. In addition, he cited expert forecasts that it could take as long as 10 years to begin construction after waiting for the U.S. military base to be returned, followed by contaminated soil cleanup, zoning, urban planning, and permits.
However, Oh said preserving Yongsan Park does not mean opposing housing supply. Instead, he argued that faster supply should come from places where development is actually possible, rather than Yongsan Park, where return and cleanup would take a long time. He proposed alternatives such as support for redevelopment projects, securing land by relocating urban infrastructure, and expanding youth housing supply and financial support.
He also rejected claims that opposition to housing supply in Yongsan Park is a political judgment. He said that since 2006, shortly after taking office in his fourth term, he had argued that the entire main site of the Yongsan U.S. military base should be turned into a park, and that he had fiercely debated with the government, which at the time wanted to sell part of the site to help cover the relocation costs of the U.S. military base. Oh said, "Looking at public opinion among Seoul citizens, about two-thirds oppose using even part of Yongsan Park as an apartment site," adding, "I feel responsible because if I were to support turning even part of Yongsan Park into an apartment site, I would become a sinner in history forever."
[email protected] Kwon Jun-ho Reporter