Oh Sehoon Proposes Youth Housing at 'Tancheon Water Reclamation Center' Instead of Yongsan Park

Meeting with Minister Kim Yoonduk Tomorrow to Discuss Housing Supply Sites
Transfer of Redevelopment Authority to District Heads Called "Truly Reckless Bureaucratic Policymaking"

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is expected to propose the site of the "Tancheon Water Reclamation Center" in Irwon-dong, Gangnam-gu as a location for youth housing supply, instead of Yongsan Park, which is currently under government consideration.

On the 20th, Kim Yoon-duk, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (left), and Oh Se-hoon, Mayor of Seoul, shook hands at Conference House in Jung-gu, Seoul, where they met to discuss housing supply measures. Photo by Yonhap News

After attending the Korea Future Innovation Forum held at the National Assembly Building on the 25th, Mayor Oh told reporters, "When comparing the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center site with several other sites currently being discussed, not only is this site larger in capacity than Yongsan Park, but the residential environment is also superior."

On the 26th, during a meeting with Kim Yoon-duk, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Mayor Oh is expected to present a proposal for creating a "Southeastern Seoul Youth Special District" using the Tancheon site as an alternative to the use of Yongsan Park.

The Tancheon Water Reclamation Center mentioned by Mayor Oh is located near Daecheong Station on Subway Line 3 in Irwon-dong, Gangnam-gu. The land area is approximately 393,000 square meters. In terms of area, this is larger than the 300,000 square meter Children's Garden in Yongsan Park, which was initially discussed by the government as a candidate site for youth housing.

Mayor Oh insists that if both residences and advanced industry and research and development (R&D) facilities are established on this site, it would be possible to secure at least 10,000 to 13,000 housing units. He explained that this site "is not about altering a part of Yongsan Park that should be passed on to future generations but about proposing a desirable alternative for a residential complex."

Mayor Oh also emphasized, "(The Southeastern Seoul Youth Special District) is by no means a hastily made proposal," adding, "A master plan team was already established two years ago, and now that the study is completed, a review of private business eligibility is underway."

He stated, "I hope this issue will be given substantial attention in my meeting with Minister Kim, so that the current government's impromptu policy approach to alter Yongsan Park will be withdrawn and this alternative can be thoroughly discussed."

Mayor Oh also strongly criticized the plan discussed by the party and government to transfer authority over redevelopment and reconstruction maintenance projects of 500 or fewer households to local district offices.

He said, "Such proposals, which seem to arise only during spur-of-the-moment election campaigns, have been announced without thorough consideration," and described it as "dangerously misguided bureaucratic decision-making."

Mayor Oh further stated, "It is highly inappropriate for the Prime Minister to start this discussion by bypassing the Mayor of Seoul, gathering district office heads, and adopting suggestions from them."

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