Seoul-Land Ministry talks on pause as Yongsan Park housing plan drifts

Third meeting between Oh Se-hoon and Kim Yun-deok shrouded in uncertainty

Ministerial change adds new variable, pushing schedule back

Decontamination costs, timeline and procedures remain unresolved

A view of the Yongsan Park area in Seoul. [Yonhap]

Efforts to reach an agreement on housing supply at Yongsan Park have stalled after a planned third meeting between Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kim Yun-deok and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon fell through — and a looming ministerial change is making a near-term compromise even harder to envision.

The two sides met twice last month to discuss using the Yongsan Park site for housing. Since then, talks have been effectively frozen. The Land Ministry has signaled willingness to consider housing on park land, including the children's garden area, but Seoul City Hall has held firm in its opposition, citing the importance of green space and the site's historical significance.

Despite the clear gap in positions, discussions had appeared to be gaining traction after Seoul proposed several alternative sites: the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center site in Gangnam-gu (about 393,000 square meters), the Capital Finance Command site near Gyeongidan (17,925 square meters), a Bank of Korea residential facility site (4,377 square meters) and a Ministry of Foreign Affairs parking lot site (3,979 square meters). With both sides agreeing on the need to increase housing supply, attention had been focused on whether they could reach a deal on volume and location.

Land Minister Kim Yun-deok and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon shake hands after a meeting at a restaurant in Seoul on Aug. 20 to discuss housing issues, including the use of Yongsan Park for housing supply. [Yonhap]

A new complication emerged when Hong Ji-seon, the Land Ministry's second vice minister, was nominated as the incoming minister on Aug. 30, throwing the prospects of a third meeting — which had been expected in early September — into doubt.

The day after his nomination, Hong told reporters on his way into Government Complex Sejong that he would "consult sufficiently with Seoul City Hall in advance so that policy works on the ground." The remarks raised the possibility that any further meeting will be pushed back until after he is confirmed and takes office.

His confirmation hearing, scheduled for Wednesday, is expected to draw scrutiny over his stance on housing supply at Yongsan Park.

It is not only the bilateral meeting that has been delayed. A bill to amend the Special Act on the Creation of Yongsan Park, which had been set for a plenary vote on Sept. 3, was also postponed because consultations between Kim and Oh had not concluded. The bill centers on adjusting the green-space ratio for scattered parcels to be developed for mixed use, separate from the main park body, and has been put on hold.

A National Assembly petition opposing the bill and calling for a halt to housing development at Yongsan Park had drawn more than 55,000 signatures as of Friday. With opposition mounting from Yongsan-gu, civic groups and Seoul City Hall alike, even the ruling party faces pressure against pushing the legislation through unilaterally.

Hong Ji-seon, nominee for land minister, answers reporters' questions as he arrives at Government Complex Sejong on Aug. 31. [Yonhap]

Concerns about the decontamination process at the Yongsan Park site present yet another challenge for the Land Ministry.

Data obtained by the office of People Power Party lawmaker Seong Il-jong, a member of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, from the Ministry of National Defense show that the Defense Ministry spent 576.2 billion won ($431 million) decontaminating 42 returned USFK bases from 2008 through the end of last month. Among them, Camp Kim — whose cleanup is set to be completed this month — stands as a cautionary example: the discovery of cultural artifacts during decontamination drove up both the duration and cost of the project, with total expenses reaching 30.6 billion won. Because the extent, degree and nature of contamination at Yongsan Park parcels have not been fully assessed, converting the land for residential use could trigger unexpected cost and time overruns.

After their second meeting, Kim told reporters that Yongsan would not be included in the 73,000 additional housing units the government had already announced for delivery this year, suggesting the Land Ministry is unlikely to push aggressively on the Yongsan Park housing plan. Seoul City Hall, for its part, has indicated it may consider limited greenbelt use — but only if the government drops its plan to build housing at Yongsan Park — leaving open the possibility that the two sides could yet arrive at a third-way compromise.

hope@heraldcorp.com