Mayor Kim Kyungdae of Yongsan: "Soil Remediation Takes Over a Decade... Rapid Housing Supply in Yongsan Park Is Unrealistic"

Only 31.5% of U.S. Military Base Land Returned
72% of Area Exceeds Soil Pollution Threshold
Yongsan Park Site Requires Long-term Remediation
Alternative Sites Proposed to Government

"We must not undermine a national symbolic space that contains the history and identity of Korea under the pretext of 'rapid housing supply.'"

Kim Kyungdae, Mayor of Yongsan District, has once again expressed a strong stance regarding the push for housing supply on the main site of Yongsan Park. In a written interview with The Asia Business Daily on September 7, Mayor Kim criticized, "As the return of the U.S. military base has been prolonged and approximately 72% of the land in question exceeds the soil contamination concern threshold, discussing it as a candidate for housing supply is a short-sighted administrative move that overlooks both public health and safety."

Yongsan District Mayor Kim Kyung-Dae emphasized in an interview, "Talking about rapid housing supply on sites that require long-term soil purification is not realistic." Mayor Kim standing in front of Yongsan Children's Garden. Provided by Yongsan District Office.

"Difficult to specify timing of full U.S. military base return... Remediation alone takes more than a decade"

Mayor Kim first pointed out the realistic conditions of the Yongsan Park site. Out of the 11.53 million square meters that make up the Yongsan Park maintenance area, the actual park construction zone is 3 million square meters. Of the U.S. military base area within this, only 765,000 square meters—31.5% of the total 2.43 million square meters—have been returned.

He said, "On August 18, I asked the Ministry of National Defense about the expected timeline for the complete return of the U.S. military base. However, I received a response stating that the timing depends on consultations between South Korea and the United States and is difficult to specify due to military and diplomatic considerations." He added, "A full return is likely to be a prolonged process."

The issue of soil contamination is also severe. According to the district office, under the Ministry of Environment's 2022 report on the environmental status of partially returned U.S. military bases, 572,000 square meters out of 630,000 square meters of returned land were surveyed, with about 72% found to exceed the soil pollution concern threshold. Even excluding fluoride, which tends to show high readings nationwide, the area exceeded the threshold by 28.6%. In particular, high levels of dioxin were detected near open incineration sites.

Mayor Kim explained, "It took five years just to remediate the contaminated site at Camp Kim (48,000 square meters), and the UN Command site (52,000 square meters) began remediation in 2011. However, during excavation, soil contaminated above standard thresholds was found, and it took a total of 14 years until remediation was completed in 2024." He continued, "For the Yongsan Park site, which covers about 3 million square meters, the remediation period will inevitably be much longer and the costs even greater. Talking about rapid housing supply on a site that requires prolonged soil remediation does not align with reality," he stressed.

When asked about countermeasures should the government push ahead with housing supply, he said, "Local governments have limited authority to independently block central government development projects. However, even public housing district projects, where the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport directly exercises permits and approvals, must go through procedures including public briefings and expositions for resident opinion gathering and environmental impact assessments. Through these procedures, we will have no choice but to unite with residents to oppose it." He added, "We plan to work closely with the National Assembly, city and district council members, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government to jointly respond to any legislative or policy initiatives that compromise the original purpose of Yongsan Park."

"Alternative sites have been offered, and maintenance projects are underway at pace"

Mayor Kim stated, "While I agree with and actively support the government's need for housing supply, I propose using alternative sites." He continued, "Back in March, we already submitted data to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on potential alternative sites, including property currently used as a tax office, stormwater detention basin, and Hanmaeum Children's Park. Last month, Assemblyman Kwon Youngse suggested additional alternatives such as the site of the Armed Forces Financial Management Corps, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs parking lot, and the Bank of Korea residence in Huam-dong. Through discussion with the central government, we can identify plenty of suitable housing supply sites within the district."

On stable housing measures for young people, he said, "In November this year, a youth housing complex with 988 households will be completed near Wonhyo-ro 3-ga Station. Including this, the supply of youth housing in the Samgakji area, Namyeong Station, and Seogye-dong totals around 3,300 households, which ranks third among Seoul districts."

Kim Kyung-dae, Mayor of Yongsan District. Courtesy of Yongsan District.

Mayor Kim commented, "Yongsan District is actively and rapidly advancing maintenance projects on 91 sites currently underway. We have established the Yongsan Development Rapid Promotion Team as the first pledge of the 9th popularly elected administration (to be upgraded to 'Director' level in January 2027) to systematically support these maintenance projects." He emphasized, "There are still areas in Yongsan that require maintenance and have demand for urban restructuring. Rather than forcibly developing new housing sites like Yongsan Park, a more effective strategy is to secure housing by expediting redevelopment and reconstruction projects in the district."

Mayor Kim reiterated, "The government should completely halt the housing supply plan for Yongsan Park and shift toward using alternative sites where housing supply is actually feasible." He asserted, "Housing can be supplied elsewhere, but large-scale urban green spaces and historic sites, once destroyed, cannot be recreated. Yongsan District will actively cooperate in housing supply, but we will protect Yongsan Park—which must be preserved for future generations—no matter what."

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