'Even pricey New York doesn't build apartments in Central Park,' say 200 Yongsan residents

Members of the Yongsan Park Preservation Residents' Group hold a rally in front of Yongsan Children's Garden in Seoul on Wednesday. [Yonhap]

Hundreds of local residents gathered Wednesday to demand the government scrap its plan to use part of Seoul's Yongsan Park for housing, amid growing pressure from the government and the ruling party to tap the site for new homes.

The Yongsan Park Preservation Residents' Group held a press conference at Hanmaeum Children's Park in Yongsan-dong, Seoul, calling for the park to be developed as a national park rather than a housing site. Police informally estimated about 200 residents attended.

Demonstrators held signs reading "What apartments in a park — it's suffocating," "Yongsan Park must not fail," and "Green space, once gone, cannot be restored," as they voiced opposition to the government's housing review.

"The principles and values of a national park — a legacy for future generations — must not be undermined simply because housing supply is needed," the group said. "Yongsan Park is not ours alone. It is a precious green space and a national asset to be passed on to our children."

The group called on the government to withdraw any plan to consider Yongsan Park as a housing supply site and to uphold the principle of developing it as a full national park.

Some voices at the event acknowledged the need for more housing in the city center, but argued that revitalizing redevelopment and reconstruction projects was a better answer than developing Yongsan Park.

Myeong Young-ho, a resident of Ichon-dong in Yongsan-gu, said the real solution to the urban housing shortage lay in easing redevelopment and reconstruction regulations and accelerating existing improvement projects. "Tearing down green space set aside for future generations just to fill a quota is a fatal mistake," he said.

People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Young-se, who represents Yongsan, and Yongsan-gu District Chief Kim Gyeong-dae also attended the press conference.

"Even in New York, where housing prices are high, no one is talking about tearing down Central Park to build apartments," Kwon said. "They are talking about tearing down Yongsan Park — Seoul's Central Park — to build apartments, but making use of redevelopment and reconstruction sites would be far more meaningful."

The government and the ruling party are reviewing plans to use part of Yongsan Park for housing supply.

Land Minister Kim Yun-deok told a plenary session of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee on Wednesday that the government had no intention of clearing the entire park's green space to build housing. He said officials were examining options including supplying youth housing on portions of the site that had already lost their park function.

rim@heraldcorp.com