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| This rendered image shows a park scheduled to be built on the land of the U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan in Seoul. / Courtesy of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport |
Calls growing for construction of public lease housing complex on former USFK headquarters
By Nam Hyun-woo
The U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan in Seoul is at the center of a heated debate over how to use the land after it is returned to Koreans by 2021.
The government plans to build Korea's answer to New York's Central Park on the 2.43 square kilometers of land to commemorate the country's modern history, but some citizens are questioning the park's necessity, urging the government to set up public rental homes to help deal with Seoul's saturated housing demand.
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| The U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan in central Seoul / Korea Times file |
Returned after a century
The land has been off-limits to Koreans for 114 years as it has been used for base foreign militaries ― imperial Japan from 1904 to 1945 and the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) after that.
After starting the debate to move the garrison out of Seoul in 1987, Korea and the U.S. agreed to the Yongsan Relocation Plan in 2004, moving most U.S. Forces and United Nations Command activities out of the Seoul metropolitan area.
Following the agreement, the Eighth Army headquarters moved south to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, last year, and the USFK headquarters followed in June. The U.S. army has closed down 20 percent of the buildings so far and the remainder is expected to be shut down by 2021.
The previous Roh Moo-hyun administration set up a plan in 2005 to develop the land as a national park and enacted the Special Act on the Creation of Yongsan Park in 2007.
Following the enactment, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport set up a basic plan to create Yongsan Park, and will begin a public hearing to reflect people's opinion on the details of the park next year.
However, some are questioning whether building the park is the best use of the land given Seoul's saturated housing market.
The argument to build houses on the land has been emerging over the past several years, but it was amplified in September after the government announced it would cool down the real estate market by building more homes on preserved areas on the outskirts of Seoul.
On Cheong Wa Dae's online petition page, there are multiple posts urging the government to consider building houses for rent on the Yongsan Garrison site to ease the home concerns of middle- or low-income people.
"Seoul and other metropolitan citizens need homes, not a park," a posting read. "The park will end up raising the prices of homes near the park, only benefiting some rich owners."
On Sept. 12, a minor opposition party, the Minjung Party, issued a statement calling for the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the central government to consider building rental homes on the site.
"The Minjung Party and other liberal parties have been advocating the government's belief that the site should not be privatized given the sad history of providing the center of the nation's capital as a foreign military base," the statement read.
"However, the profit for home and land owners near the park will end up outweighing the benefit for the citizens of Seoul and the country. It will end up being a private garden for the rich."
The party claimed at least 20,000 to 30,000 two-room homes could be created in the area, asserting that they should be public rental homes that cannot be traded.
Rep. Kim Jin-pyo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea also said on a YouTube video that "public rental homes on the Yongsan Garrison site should be considered to bolster the supply of homes."
The Korea Land & Housing Corp. is running the country's public rental housing programs to provide long-term residential leasing for middle- or low-income people at reasonable rates compared to market rental rates. Of various types of rental arrangements of the programs, those who oppose the park plan cite the permanent rental housing program, which prohibits selling the homes thus it can prevent speculation and the benefits of the homes from being privatized.
Estimations are various regarding how many homes would be feasible ― from 20,000 homes from the Minjung Party to 100,000 homes quoted by a construction firm suggesting the site be filled with 35-story apartments. But what they have in common is the claim that the new homes would give some relief to Seoul's saturated housing market, while the park would raise house prices in nearby areas.
"It is highly expected that the park will bring a sharp price surge near the area," a realtor in Yongsan-gu said. "Though it seems that high hopes on the park plan are reflected in the current home prices, these will likely rise further when the more details of the plan are made public."
In July, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said Seoul had "a master plan" for developing Yongsan-gu, which included a national park and building an international business area in the district.
The remark triggered a 1.11 percent apartment price hike across Seoul in August from a month earlier. Of districts, Yongsan-gu rose 1.78 percent, showing the sharpest growth following other districts mentioned in the plan. As controversy and criticism stirred, Park suspended it.
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| Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon speaks during a tour of the U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan, Nov. 2./ Yonhap |
'Building homes is a fantasy'
Despite questions on the necessity of the park, many problems need to be addressed before building homes on the Yongsan site.
Currently, building a park is protected by the Special Act. Article 4-2 of the act states: "In principle, the state shall develop the entire core site into Yongsan Park, and shall neither use the core site for purposes other than a park, nor sell or otherwise dispose of the site."
Thus it would require an amendment to the law, which again would lead to more heated political debates.
The government is also against building homes on the site.
Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mee ruled out the possibility of building rental homes there during a Nov. 2 tour program into the previously restricted area.
"It is impossible," she said. "It will be reborn as Yongsan Park, a symbol of daily life and peace where people can mingle and experience nature and history. Building homes on the site is a fantasy."
"The park will be an eco-park linking Mount Nam and the Han River and will be a heritage for our descendants," Mayor Park said. "Yongsan Garrison is an important venue representing Korea's modern history which will be preserved."
Experts also say building homes on the valuable site is unrealistic.
"It seems that such an argument is growing out of people's frustration with the current real estate market," said Prof. Shim Gyo-eon at the Real Estate Department of Konkuk University.
"I understand their frustration, but from an economic perspective, building rental homes on such a valuable location is a complete waste," he said. "If we were to develop the site other than the park, we should build an office complex, which will create value worth trillions of won. Sharing the fund with the public will create more value than building homes for a limited number of people."
The land ministry said home claims are also unrealistic from an administrative perspective.
"Even if we stick to the current plan of building the park, it is hard to predict when we can break ground, because the shutdown should be finished, the return process should be done according to the Status of Forces Agreement between Korea and the U.S., and an environmental assessment should follow," a ministry official said, adding it may take more than 10 years for actual construction to start.
"To build rental homes to address the current housing issue, we should start building homes in three or four years, which is almost impossible for the Yongsan site."
