District issues statement of firm opposition Monday
"Yongsan Park has been a commitment to future generations for over 30 years;
once damaged, a park's value cannot be restored"
Yongsan-gu has reiterated its firm opposition to a proposed amendment to the Special Act on the Creation of Yongsan Park, currently under discussion in the National Assembly.
In a statement issued Monday, the district said the amendment "would allow the park's main site to be used for housing and other purposes, permit phased and piecemeal planning at the discretion of the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and ease green space area requirements for sites including Camp Kim."
The district went on to say that "Yongsan Park has been pursued on the basis of a national commitment — from the 1990 agreement to relocate the US military base, to the declaration of a national park in 2006, to the special act enacted with the agreement of the ruling and opposition parties — to create a fully intact ecological and historical park and pass it on to future generations over more than 30 years."
It added that it "cannot help but be deeply concerned that legislation is being pushed forward without sufficient public consultation, threatening a commitment that has been upheld through national and bipartisan consensus to develop this as a national park."
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is reviewing a plan to build about 7,000 housing units across three sites — the former Defense Acquisition Program Administration headquarters, military apartment complexes and officer quarters. There are also reports that the amendment could be put to a vote at a plenary session of the National Assembly on Thursday.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government and Yongsan-gu, however, have both said they cannot accept housing development on the park site.
The district invoked a Korean proverb — "no matter how urgent, you cannot thread a needle from the middle" — and said that "a detailed investigation into soil contamination within Yongsan Park, along with remediation and safety verification suitable for residential use, must come first, and infrastructure measures addressing traffic, education and other needs arising from housing supply must also be put in place."
It also stressed that "once damaged, a park's value is difficult to restore," and called for an "immediate halt to attempts to undermine the national consensus under the logic that the site is already degraded." The district added that it "will respond without wavering to ensure Yongsan Park is developed as a national park representing Seoul and the Republic of Korea."
ikson@heraldcorp.com
