Yongsan Park housing push faces legal barriers, public fury and a bipartisan political revolt

A government push to bring housing to Yongsan Park in Yongsan District, central Seoul, has turned the future of the sprawling green space into a political battleground.

The debate follows Land Minister Kim Yun-duk’s statement made Friday that the government is “considering all of Yongsan Park” as a potential housing site. But a long list of hurdles stands in the way, from revising the law to overcoming opposition from the local government and residents.

Kim's remarks suggest that the government is considering the entire 3 million-square-meter (1.16-square-mile) Yongsan Park as a potential housing site. Until now, discussions have focused only on the 300,000-square-meter Yongsan Children’s Park, a smaller section within the park.

“The proposal could lead to serious conflict if it is not pursued carefully,” real estate industry sources said.

Complicated history of Yongsan Park

The foremost hurdle is that Yongsan Park cannot legally be developed for housing under current law.

The park carries a complicated historic significance. The Japanese colonial forces used the park site as a military base during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule. After Korea's liberation from Japan, the U.S. military used the sprawling site as a garrison and headquarters.

With the gradual relocation of the U.S. base, the site has started reopening its gates to the public in phases. The first phase, Yongsan Children's Park, has been open to the public since December 2025. 

The Special Act on the Creation of Yongsan Park states that the government “shall not change the use of the main site for purposes other than a park or dispose of it through measures such as a sale.”

Former President Roh Moo-hyun championed the legislation, which was enacted in 2007 as part of a longstanding effort to return the Yongsan site to the public after generations of foreign occupation dating back to 1882.

“Yongsan is a land with a painful history, but a new future is now opening on this land,” Roh said at a ceremony announcing the transformation of the Yongsan military base into a park on Aug. 24, 2006. “A monumental park symbolizing Korea will be created here.”

That puts the ruling Democratic Party (DP) in the awkward position of having to rewrite a law enacted under Roh, a president from its own political camp.

A fierce public backlash to the proposal

A concrete wall of public opposition to amending the law presents another hurdle.

DP Reps. Bok Ki-wang and Moon Jin-seog each proposed amendments to the Yongsan Park law in March that would allow the government to develop portions of the park in stages. However, the proposals have drawn thousands of objections.

The two bills drew 6,594 public submissions on the National Assembly’s online legislative notice system during the 10-day period when the public could submit opinions on proposed legislation. Bok’s bill received 3,339 submissions and Moon’s received 3,255, with the overwhelming majority opposing them.

Neither bill directly sought to open the main Yongsan Park site to housing development. Still, opponents feared the amendments could open the door to housing later.

“If the amendments pass, they will try to change the development plan and build housing,” opponents argued.

The bipartisan fight to protect the park

Changing the law is one thing. Winning over Seoul and its residents is another.

“I will not accept even 1 centimeter [0.4 inches] of Yongsan Park being sacrificed,” Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said on Aug. 8. “This park belongs to future generations.”

“We express deep regret and strongly oppose any move in this direction,” the Yongsan District office said in a statement on Saturday.

Notably, the fight to protect the park has transcended party lines. The current mayors of Seoul and Yongsan District are both from the main opposition People Power Party, but even DP officials pushed back against a similar idea when their own party was in power.

DP lawmakers proposed similar legislation in 2021 under the former Moon Jae-in administration to allow housing development inside Yongsan Park. But the proposal met resistance from within the party itself.

“This must never happen,” said Sung Jang-hyun, then Yongsan District head and a DP member.

Opposition by residents has been even fiercer.

Earlier this month, Yongsan residents protested the government’s potential plan to turn the children’s park into housing sites by lining the area with around 300 funeral wreaths — a symbol of staunch opposition commonly used at Korean protests today.

However, the government has since expanded the area under consideration tenfold.

“If Seoul’s only remaining green space gets demolished for political purposes, no DP politician will ever get re-elected [in Yongsan District],” a Yongsan District resident surnamed Lee said.

The anger on the ground is already boiling over.

“Residents are already furious that the government is pushing ahead with the Yongsan maintenance depot development despite objections from the community,” said a real estate agent in Yongsan District. “Now the government is coming after the park, too. The mood in the neighborhood is explosive.”

The agent viewed the site not as land waiting to be developed, but as a park waiting to happen.

“This land was left as green space because of its painful history,” said the agent. “Residents want to turn it into a park for everyone, similar to New York’s Central Park.”

The yet-to-be-solved U.S. military base site issue 

Even if the government clears every political and legal hurdle, breaking ground will be no walk in the park.

Much of Yongsan Park sits on the site of a former U.S. military base, which has yet to be fully returned to Korea.

Only 768,000 square meters, or 25.6 percent, of the planned 3-million-square-meter Yongsan Park has been returned by the U.S. military, according to Yongsan District. The government must negotiate with the U.S. military over the land that has yet to be returned.

Experts, too, say the government should look carefully before it digs.

“Yongsan Park is one of the last remaining large-scale green spaces that could enhance Seoul’s competitiveness as a city, and it should be returned to the public,” Seo Jin-hyeong, a professor of real estate law at KwangWoon University Graduate School, said. “Land is a legacy we pass on to future generations. We need to look at the bigger picture and make this decision with the long term in mind.”

The fundamental question: why Yongsan?

Some experts questioned whether Yongsan Park was the right place for the government’s housing ambitions.

“I understand the government needs to increase housing supply, but there is still not enough public consensus on one fundamental question: Why does it have to be Yongsan Park?” Seo Jeong-ryeol, a professor of real estate at Youngsan University, said. “Cleaning up potential soil contamination at the former U.S. military base will also take considerable time, which runs counter to the goal of speeding up housing supply.”

Seo questioned whether the plan was ever meant to get off the ground.

“Is the government simply floating Yongsan Park as a trial balloon to demonstrate its commitment to housing supply without a concrete plan for how to deliver it?” Prof. Seo asked.

Another expert also warned against sacrificing the park for development.

“Yongsan Park is a place of historical significance, and green space in the heart of a city is far more valuable than green space on its outskirts,” Kwon Dae-joong, a distinguished professor of economics and real estate at Hansung University, said. “Reversing the preservation efforts of successive governments would also undermine public trust in government policy. That is why consultation with local governments and residents must come first, no matter what.”

BY KIM JUN-YOUNG [lee.jiwon10@joongang.co.kr]