Yongsan-gu opposes plan to build 13,000–20,000 youth housing units on Yongsan Park site

Yongsan-gu has come out strongly against a proposal, reportedly under review by the Democratic Party of Korea's Seoul chapter, to build youth housing on the former US military base site being returned to South Korea.

The district office issued a statement Friday saying it had learned that the Democratic Party's Seoul chapter was considering supplying between 13,000 and 20,000 youth housing units on land surrounding the main Yongsan Park site. "We oppose any unilateral development that could undermine the public and historical character of Yongsan Park," the statement said.

Sites reportedly under consideration for the housing include the Yongsan Children's Garden, the former Defense Acquisition Program Administration site, military apartment grounds and officer quarters.

Yongsan-gu also took issue with the government and ruling party's move to designate those areas as so-called "degraded sites" in order to justify development.

"There are buildings of various sizes scattered throughout the main Yongsan Park site as well," the district said. "By that logic, the entire park could be classified as a degraded site, raising the risk that it would be developed in stages."

The district added that the Special Act on the Creation of Yongsan Park establishes as a principle that the entire former US military base be developed into a national park. "Once that principle is broken, development could spread across all of Yongsan Park," it said.

Yongsan-gu said the park is not simply a site available for development, but a national asset carrying historical significance, symbolic value and ecological public worth that must be passed on to future generations.

The district also raised safety concerns over soil contamination.

It said a groundwater quality test conducted near Noksapyeong Station in April detected benzene at 335 times the permissible limit, adding that contamination inside the former US base could be even more serious.

The district further warned that rushing the removal and remediation of contaminated soil — before the full extent of the pollution has even been determined — could cause traffic congestion, noise and fine dust, as well as severe secondary environmental damage.

It said a thorough soil contamination survey and safety verification of the entire Yongsan Park site must be completed before any housing supply or development discussions can proceed.

The district also expressed concern that indiscriminate excavation and soil removal could cause irreversible damage to the park's inherent historical and cultural value.

While acknowledging the need to expand Seoul's housing supply, Yongsan-gu drew a line at using Yongsan Park as a development site.

"Just because rapid housing supply is needed does not mean we can build apartments in Yeouido Park, Olympic Park or Seoul Forest," the district said. "Yongsan Park is equally a precious asset that must be preserved and handed down to future generations."

Instead, the district proposed high-density development in transit-oriented areas, use of idle public land, and the promotion of reconstruction and redevelopment as realistic alternatives for increasing housing supply.

A Yongsan-gu official said the district would "strongly respond to any unilateral push by the government to supply housing" in order to protect the park's public and historical character and safeguard the lives and safety of residents.