Namjoon Kim of Democratic Party Introduces First 'Regulatory Relief Package' Bill for Greater Seoul Area

Foundation for Reinvestment in Areas Near Military Protection Zones

Special Provisions for Mixed-Use Station Development in Greenbelt Areas

Namjoon Kim, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced on July 29 that he had sponsored a comprehensive package of bills as his first legislative proposal, aimed at easing triple-layered regulations that hinder regional development and addressing reverse discrimination against the Seoul metropolitan area.

The package consists of four partial amendment bills: the Act on Defense and Military Facilities Projects, the Protection of Military Bases and Facilities Act, the Act on the Development and Utilization of Station Areas, and the Airport Facilities Act.

Namjoon Kim, member of the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The core of the proposed bills is to establish provisions for investment in regional development near former military protection zones and to support expeditious relocation projects.

Under the current law, there is no legal basis for reinvesting development profits from relocated military sites into development projects near the new locations in urban areas. The new amendments would allow for the reinvestment of such profits into local infrastructure improvements and other regional development projects near the relocated sites.

Additionally, even after a relocation plan is finalized, it has been impossible to obtain authorization for development until the protection zone is lifted following the completion of the relocation. The amendments introduce a system of "conditional consent," whereby the Minister of National Defense or the relevant military commander may grant prior approval for relocation projects with authorized implementation plans, provided that development does not commence until after relocation is complete.

The amendments also establish legal grounds for integrated station-area development within green belt (development-restricted) zones where large-scale metropolitan rail (such as GTX) stations are located. In order to ensure the economic viability of major government-funded projects such as GTX, the bill provides special exemptions for integrated station-area development within development-restricted zones in the Seoul metropolitan area, but only for those locations included in the National Rail Network Construction Plan.

To facilitate smooth development and ensure that benefits are returned to the community, the bill raises the mandatory reinvestment rate of development profits from 25% to 50%, so that more proceeds are directed toward expanding railway facilities and local infrastructure.

Additionally, the legislation provides an institutional channel for reflecting the views of local governments around airports or airfields. It requires that at least one of the members of the Airport Location Review Committee be an external aviation expert recommended by the Council of Provincial and City Governors.

Assemblyman Kim stated, "Incheon and Gyeyang are classified as part of the Seoul metropolitan area and are subject to reverse discrimination, with development restricted and local characteristics entirely overlooked. I will focus all of my legislative efforts to ensure these bills swiftly pass the National Assembly and accelerate development in the Gyeyang area."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.