Nosikrae Seoul City Councilor "Disclose the Master Plan Before Housing Supply at Yongsan Maintenance Depot"

According to the August 4 Housing Supply Expansion Plan, an initial 8,000 + additional 2,000 households will be supplied, along with the addition of Camp Kim site
Seoul City Councilor Noh Sik-rae urges halt to hasty project implementation and calls for prior establishment of Yongsan Future Center Master Plan

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Assemblyman No Sik-rae (The Democratic Party, Yongsan 2), a member of the Seoul Metropolitan Council's Urban Planning and Management Committee, urged the Seoul Metropolitan Government to disclose the Yongsan Metropolitan Center Master Plan and to conduct citizen communication and public deliberation before housing supply, as the supply of 10,000 housing units on the Yongsan Maintenance Depot site and 3,100 units on the Camp Kim site should be based on a comprehensive master plan for the area.

On the morning of the 4th, the government announced plans to expand housing supply in the Seoul metropolitan area and other parts of the metropolitan area by discovering new housing sites and supplying 33,000 housing units.

The plan includes supplying 13,000 housing units on military sites such as Yongsan Camp Kim and Taereung Golf Course, and 10,700 housing units on idle and unsold sites such as the Yongsan Maintenance Depot.

The Yongsan Maintenance Depot had a housing supply plan of 8,000 units announced in the May 6th measures, with an additional 2,000 units added in the August 4th measures, and the Yongsan Camp Kim site was newly included in this plan.

The Yongsan area is currently designated as a land transaction permission zone to prevent housing price increases due to speculation following the May 6th measures.

In response, Assemblyman No Sik-rae said, "Following the May 6th measures, development expectations have heightened in the Yongsan real estate market, and I am concerned that the August 4th measures will cause the real estate market in this area to become unsettled again. The master plan formulation, which was underway due to real estate market instability in August 2018, was suspended, and as a result, projects within the area such as Seobu Ichon-dong are facing difficulties in progress. In this situation, announcing housing supply only raises development expectations and can cause the real estate market to fluctuate again. Supplying housing without a master plan in a haphazard manner could deprive Seoul’s center of its potential and opportunities," he warned.

He added, "The Yongsan area corresponds to a 'Metropolitan Center' in the 2030 Basic Urban Plan, located at the center of Hanyangdoseong, Yeongdeungpo-Yeouido, and the three Gangnam centers. Geographically, it borders the Han River and Namsan, and as a transportation hub connecting to Eurasia, it holds large-scale available land. Considering that the parkification of the Yongsan U.S. military base is underway, this area has high potential. Moreover, while the country’s development over the past 100 years was led mainly by the Hanyangdoseong urban center, the central functions of Hanyangdoseong and Gangnam are now nearly saturated, making it necessary to envision the Yongsan area as a new national center. Therefore, I urge the government and Seoul Metropolitan Government to recognize the regional importance of Yongsan beyond ad hoc measures and to proceed with development after establishing a master plan for the Yongsan Maintenance Depot area," he urged.

However, Assemblyman No expressed agreement with the urgency of housing supply but warned of the risks of unstructured development without a master plan, stating, "It is contradictory to suspend the master plan due to real estate market instability and then send development signals for housing supply that destabilize the market again. Therefore, it is time to restart the suspended master plan formulation."

Finally, Assemblyman No said, "The Yongsan Metropolitan Center Master Plan is truly a 'hundred-year plan' for Seoul looking 20 or even 100 years ahead. Since housing supply has already been announced, there is no reason to delay the master plan any longer. I hope that by promptly establishing the master plan, the Yongsan Maintenance Depot site, a land of opportunity that will determine Yongsan’s future, can be developed as an international central district for Yongsan and Seoul’s future without being swayed by real estate measures."