Yongsan Park Act Delayed by One Week... Low Likelihood of Revising 'Main Site Development'

Ruling and Opposition Parties Postpone Handling of Yongsan Park Act Amendment to Next Week's Plenary Session

With the ruling and opposition parties deciding to postpone the handling of the Yongsan Park Special Act amendment bill by one week, attention is focused on the possibility of revisions. The bill was originally scheduled to be addressed at the National Assembly plenary session on the previous day, August 20.

The amendment was pursued not to affect the main site of Yongsan Park, but to increase the scale of housing supply on adjacent scattered sites, such as Camp Kim, which had already been designated for development plans. Under the existing regulations, projects were required to comply with the Urban Development Act, which mandates securing 3 square meters of green space per person. However, if the amendment passes, projects could instead comply with the Housing Act, which eases this requirement to 3 square meters per household. Should it pass the plenary session, the number of housing units that can be supplied within Camp Kim is expected to increase from 1,400 to 2,500 households.

Yongsan Park Occupancy. Yonhap News

As the handling of the amendment bill has been delayed for about a week, the possibility of additional revisions is being discussed. This is because there is precedent for revisions after a bill has been submitted to the plenary session. According to Article 95 of the National Assembly Act, if 30 lawmakers (or 50 for budget proposals) agree, there is a basis for revising a bill before it is presented to the plenary session. For example, in February of this year, the bill regarding the crime of legislative distortion was completely revised right before being presented to the plenary session, primarily by the ruling party’s lawmakers, and in 2022, the Criminal Procedure Act was also amended before passage due to contradictions between clauses and concerns about constitutionality.

However, there is a broad consensus within and outside the government that further revisions to the Yongsan Park Act amendment are unlikely. This is because revising the law to enable housing supply on the main site of Yongsan Park would require not just a few exceptional clauses, but an entirely new proposal that specifically addresses this objective. Both parties have decided to postpone the handling of the amendment bill by a week in order to monitor discussions between the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Seoul Metropolitan Government, as well as public opinion.

An official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport stated, “In order to permit housing supply on the main site of Yongsan Park, it would be more appropriate for a new bill reflecting this content to be proposed and passed.”

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