Land minister, Seoul mayor to hold second meeting Wednesday on Yongsan Park housing dispute

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Yun-deok and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon will hold a second meeting Wednesday to discuss housing supply measures. Alternative sites to Yongsan Park are expected to come up for discussion amid a sharp divide between the government and Seoul city hall over building housing within the park.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the two will meet Wednesday morning at an undisclosed location in Seoul to discuss housing supply options involving Yongsan Park.

At their first meeting Thursday, the two confirmed their differences over a proposal to build housing for young people and newlyweds on part of the park, and agreed to meet again to continue talks.

At that meeting, the government proposed limited housing development focused on already-degraded sections of the park and said it would seek public deliberation on the matter, while Seoul city hall said it could not accept any conversion of the park's main site to residential use in any form.

Speaking to reporters after the Thursday meeting, Kim said the two sides had cleared up many misunderstandings but confirmed their differences. "Just as with the greenbelt, the idea is to limit housing supply to areas of Yongsan Park that have already been degraded, and if possible, to make that housing available to young people and newlyweds," he said.

Kim also said the government was open to a public deliberation process on whether to use Yongsan Park for housing. "We could hold forums or form a public deliberation committee to go through a process of careful discussion, and the specific target sites would naturally come up during that process," he said.

Oh held a briefing at Seoul City Hall after the meeting and said he would not yield an inch on the park's main site. "I told him that agreeing to convert even part of the main site to residential use would make me a sinner of history as Seoul mayor," he said. The day before, Oh had released a roughly 15-minute video in which he said, "If I agree to turn even part of Yongsan Park into an apartment site, I will be remembered as a sinner of history."

Both sides plan to continue broad discussions Wednesday, though it remains unclear whether they will find common ground given how far apart their positions are. Seoul city hall said it intends to push more actively for discussion of alternative sites to Yongsan Park at the Wednesday meeting. As was the case Thursday, both sides are expected to hold separate background briefings after the meeting.