Yongsan Park Overshadows Greater Seoul Housing Plan... Why the All-Out Supply Push Has Turned Into a "Park War"

The Key Points of the August 13 Plan: 230,000-Plus-Alpha Homes in Greater Seoul
Project Timelines Slashed: From 68 to 37 Months to Break Ground
Just a Week In, All Eyes Turn to Yongsan Park
Government Pushes "Youth Housing on Idle Land" vs.

Less than a week after the announcement of the Yoon Administration's "230,000 Plus Alpha" housing supply plan for the Greater Seoul area and the 8·13 supply measures focused on accelerating groundbreaking for public land development, all eyes have turned to a single location: Yongsan Park in Seoul. The main area of Yongsan Park is neither included as part of the officially confirmed supply quota in the 8·13 measures nor is it land that can be immediately developed. Nevertheless, Yongsan has become the central issue for the entire housing strategy because it simultaneously touches on multiple contentious topics: the shortage of available housing in Seoul, youth residential needs, urban green space, and the tug of war over policy leadership between the central government and the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

The key themes of the 8·13 measures were "quantity" and "speed." The government pledged to raise the effectiveness of its goal to break ground for 1.35 million new homes in the Seoul metropolitan area between 2026 and 2030, and promised to supply an additional 230,000 or more units, including 100,000 on newly designated sites. It also announced that the average timeline for public land projects—from site announcement to groundbreaking—would be reduced from 68 months to 37 months. The intention was to add meaningful supply-side measures after a series of demand-suppression policies following the 6·27 lending restrictions, in an effort to address and dilute market concerns that the government was "only suppressing demand."

The area around Yongsan Children's Garden in Yongsan Park, Seoul, on the 14th, when Kim Itak, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, announced that the government will consult with the Seoul Metropolitan Government on the plan to use the Children's Garden within Yongsan Park as a site for housing supply. Photo by Yonhap News

Seoul Running Out of Land for New Construction... Yongsan Park Rapidly Gains Attention

The real issue is "where to build." In Seoul, most new public development land has effectively been exhausted, and releasing greenbelt areas raises environmental controversy. Redevelopment and reconstruction projects require significant time due to stakeholder consensus, business feasibility, and relocation of current residents. Ultimately, attention shifted to national or public land where the government can more easily exercise control—with the 3 million square meters of Yongsan Park, in the heart of Seoul, emerging as a prime candidate.

The Yongsan card is not an unfamiliar option for President Lee Jae-myung. During the 2022 presidential campaign, President Lee outlined a plan to build 100,000 units within parts of Yongsan Park and adjacent returned military sites, with the intention of using these as basic housing for young people. The idea of leveraging public land in Seoul's core to provide "live-work" housing for youth is directly aligned with the current policy focus on youth housing.

However, Yongsan Park is distinct from other idle government-owned sites. The Special Act on the Establishment of Yongsan Park, enacted in 2007, enshrined a national commitment to turning the entire former U.S. military base into a public park. Returning land in the center of Seoul to citizens after over 120 years as a military site is of enormous historical significance. Here, the economic value of "vacant, developable land" is in direct conflict with the irreversible value of a "future asset" once it's lost.

From "Considering Everything" to "Youth Housing on Non-Green Spaces"... Government Moderates as Controversy Grows

As controversy intensified, the government's position has evolved. On August 14, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Yoon-Duck Kim stated, "If we're only talking about the Children's Garden, that's a narrow view; we're considering the park as a whole." However, during the National Assembly session on August 19, he clarified, "The plan is not to pave over the park's green spaces to build housing at all." Instead, he explained that the government is considering a limited plan to provide youth housing in areas that have already lost their green space function, such as officers' quarters, military apartment complexes, and the former Defense Acquisition Program Administration site. By shifting the discussion, the government is now taking a more moderated approach.

The Blue House has made similar arguments. On August 19, Ha Joon-kyoung, Chief Economic Growth Secretary, described Yongsan Park as "prime real estate," but emphasized, "Building housing does not mean the park will not be created." The idea is to encourage a discussion about ways to coexist: appropriate-scale parkland and youth housing, rather than framing park and housing as mutually exclusive choices.

There are political calculations behind this as well. Proposing ordinary for-sale apartments would likely trigger public backlash over greenbelt destruction, but shifting the focus to youth and newlywed public housing changes the nature of the debate. The counterargument to "we must preserve parks for future generations" becomes, "we must also ensure future generations have homes in Seoul."

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Yoon-Duck Kim and First Vice Minister Itak Kim are having a conversation regarding the supply of housing utilizing Yongsan Park during the full meeting of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee held at the National Assembly on August 19, 2026. Photo by Hyunmin Kim

A Showdown in Yongsan: Lee vs. Oh... Effectively a Battle Between Two Supply Strategies

This is precisely why Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon refuses to concede any ground. Mayor Oh said, "We must not try to use Yongsan Park as a scapegoat to deflect blame for not containing housing prices," and insisted, "I will defend it under any circumstances." Instead, the city promotes its own plan to break ground on 310,000 new units by 2031 through redevelopment and reconstruction projects.

This has set up a confrontation between two fundamentally different supply strategies regarding Yongsan Park. The central government aims to secure and control supply by utilizing national and public land, as well as new development sites, thereby also managing the pace and pricing of both sales and rentals. In contrast, the Seoul city government contends that the solution lies in relaxing rules on the redevelopment and reconstruction of already developed neighborhoods in order to unlock private sector supply.

This difference was apparent during the State Council meeting on August 18. When Mayor Oh requested deregulation for redevelopment and reconstruction, President Lee agreed that additional supply was needed, but reportedly replied, "We must increase supply, but not at the risk of triggering a surge in housing prices." In other words, while the president supports boosting supply, he is adamant that relaxing development controls should not stoke further price escalation.

'Just Build It' Not So Simple: Special Laws, Pollution, and Public Opinion All Pose Hurdles

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon (left) is listening to President Lee Jae-myung's remarks at the 1st Eulji Cabinet Meeting held at the Blue House on August 18, 2026. Photo by Blue House Press Photographers Team, Yonhap News Agency

Yongsan Park is not an unconditionally advantageous policy card for the government. In fact, it may be the furthest from the "just build it" narrative featured in the 8·13 measures. Under the current special law, legal amendments would be required to designate the main base area for housing; moreover, the land needs thorough decontamination given its long history as a U.S. military installation. Since the government announced on August 19 that it would make decisions after a process of public debate and stakeholder engagement, any actual project remains a long way off. Even if the law is amended and the area designated as a public housing zone—which technically would not require the formal consent of the Seoul Metropolitan Government—carrying out the project in the face of strong opposition from the city and local residents would incur significant political costs.

For these reasons, the intensification of the Yongsan debate could itself become a significant liability for the government. It risks negatively impacting not only the 230,000 plus alpha housing target for the Seoul metropolitan area, but also practical measures like speedy groundbreaking for the 3rd generation new towns, the development of additional new sites, and the normalization of project financing (PF) in the market. The meeting scheduled for August 20 between Minister Yoon-Duck Kim and Mayor Oh will serve as the first test of whether the government will continue to push Yongsan Park as the centerpiece of its housing policy or pivot toward a limited, non-greenfield redevelopment as a way out.

According to a source from the ruling bloc, "If the government pushes forward, it can demonstrate its determination to deliver on supply, but risks the burden of 'breaking a 20-year national promise.' On the other hand, if it retreats, it will immediately face criticism that 'there simply wasn't enough land left in Seoul for new housing after all.' Mayor Oh, for his part, cannot rely solely on opposition; he must also prove that the city can deliver the quantity of supply the market demands in a timely manner through redevelopment and reconstruction."

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