(EDITORIAL from Korea JoongAng Daily on Aug. 17)
The government is considering building 20,000 apartments in Yongsan Park in cent...
A proposal to construct 20,000 apartments in Yongsan Park, a central Seoul green space, aims to address the city's severe housing shortage and market instability. However, this move would violate legal and public commitments to preserve the site as green space. Yongsan Park was designated as a national park under a 2007 law, which promised to return the former U.S. military base to public use as green space.
The legislation explicitly forbids changing the park's primary purpose to anything other than a park or selling it. The government is considering using the entire park for housing, but public opposition and soil contamination issues complicate the plan. Despite the urgency of increasing housing supply, the government should prioritize completing existing planned housing and improving implementation.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon insists that no one should damage Yongsan Park, emphasizing the importance of consultation with local governments and broader social consensus before making decisions.
Written by urgent.news from Yonhap News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
