Party eyes Camp Kim, transportation site and officer housing as available sites

Aims for 'at least tens of thousands of units' in Seoul, semi-industrial zones and small redevelopment also on table

Party seeks to expand newly built purchased rental housing, boost Housing and Urban Fund, and hold policy talks with Seoul Metropolitan Government

Rep. Oh Gi-hyung, chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea's special committee on housing supply, delivers opening remarks at the fourth meeting of the Seoul chapter's special committee on housing supply policy, held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul, on Thursday morning.
Rep. Oh Gi-hyung, chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea's special committee on housing supply, delivers opening remarks at the fourth meeting of the Seoul chapter's special committee on housing supply policy, held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul, on Thursday morning.

The Democratic Party of Korea is pushing to supply housing for young people and newlywed couples by developing land in Yongsan that was returned by the US military and remains available for use.

Under the plan, the so-called transportation site, whose future use has not yet been determined, would be developed as public land for "affordable youth housing" rather than sold to private developers. The party will also actively consider other available sites in the Yongsan area, including Camp Kim and former officer housing, as candidate sites for youth housing.

The Democratic Party of Korea Seoul chapter's special committee on housing supply policy discussed the plan at its fourth meeting, held Thursday morning at the National Assembly Members' Office Building under the theme "How to Supply Housing for Youth and Newlywed Couples."

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Rep. Kim Nam-geun said the transportation site inside Yongsan Park has the largest area among the sites under discussion, but no development plan has been set yet. "There were also calls for using it as public land where housing such as youth housing could be supplied, rather than selling it to private developers," he said. If the site is developed for public use, the Korea Land and Housing Corporation is expected to carry out the development directly.

Committee members proposed using Camp Kim, which has already been designated for development by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation, to supply youth housing, and reviewing additional sites returned by the US military that could be developed for residential use, such as former officer housing. Among the ideas raised was designating existing residential sites near transit hubs — including Officer Housing Complexes 4 and 5 and military apartment complexes — for youth housing.

The committee, however, drew a line against any broader development of Yongsan Park itself. "Mentioning Yongsan Park has led to a misunderstanding that the park itself would be developed," Kim said. "This is a discussion about developing the land returned by the US military into youth housing."

Committee members cited as a cautionary example the case of the former UN Command site, which was sold to private developers and turned into high-end housing. "The UN Command site was sold to private developers and developed, and apartments there now cost around 2.9 billion to 3 billion won ($2.24 million), while officetels go for 8 billion won," Kim said. "Isn't there a lot wrong with that kind of approach?" He added that there was a proposal for the public sector to develop such sites and supply affordable housing, including youth housing.

The Democratic Party believes it needs to come up with a plan — including making use of the Yongsan land returned by the US military — to continuously supply youth housing in Seoul on the scale of tens of thousands of units. The party's assessment is that supplying housing in batches of hundreds or thousands of units, as has been done so far, makes it difficult for young people to feel the policy's effects.

"Young people are cynical and skeptical, saying, 'That is a lottery — even if you talk about hundreds or thousands of units, there is no chance it will come to us,'" Kim said. "There was a consensus that the policy needs to be consistent and continuous — not hundreds or thousands of units, but at least tens of thousands within Seoul and hundreds of thousands across the greater Seoul area."

Beyond Yongsan, the committee also discussed using semi-industrial zones within Seoul for housing supply. With roughly 19.8 million square meters of semi-industrial zoning in the city, the idea is to actively convert underused sites for residential purposes. The committee is also considering ways to supply youth housing by revitalizing small-scale redevelopment and renewal projects.

As a way to boost supply in the short term, the committee proposed expanding the newly built purchased rental housing program. "There have been ongoing proposals to move quickly by expanding newly built purchased rental housing in the short term, even if it means spending national budget funds to speed things up," said Rep. Oh Gi-hyung of the Democratic Party. "The idea is also to maximize small-scale renewal projects wherever supply is possible."

The committee is also preparing a long-term road map to stabilize the jeonse and monthly rent market. Among the proposals discussed was having the public sector secure roughly 20 percent of the entire rental market and using public rental housing to establish jeonse and monthly rent prices that young people can afford. However, this has not yet been finalized at the committee level.

Meanwhile, Thursday's meeting also included proposals to expand government fiscal spending and the Housing and Urban Fund to support the expansion of youth housing supply.

"Whether it is purchase-type rental housing or a public-sector-centered approach, injecting funds from the national treasury is necessary," Oh said. "We are hearing opinions that we need to look at what is holding back supply and that the fund itself needs to be replenished." The party plans to closely review next year's government budget bill and, if necessary, push for related budget increases during the regular National Assembly session's budget review process.

The Democratic Party's Seoul chapter plans to hold regular meetings of the special committee on housing supply and flesh out youth housing and jeonse-monthly rent measures through the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, Strategy and Finance Committee, and Public Administration and Security Committee. Rep. Kim Young-bae, chairman of the Seoul chapter, said, "We have decided to ask the Seoul Metropolitan Government for a separate plan to supply youth housing." He added, "The Democratic Party's Seoul chapter plans to soon propose policy talks with the Seoul Metropolitan Government to discuss housing supply and jeonse-monthly rent measures."


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