'Yeouido 3.1 Times' Military Facility Protection Zone to Be Lifted

Seocho Umyeon-dong, Gyeonggi Paju, Gangwon Cheorwon...
Revitalizing Local Economy and Easing Housing Supply Constraints

Yoon Ho-jung, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, attended the 'Military Protection Zone Lifting and Relaxation Party-Government Council' held at the National Assembly on the 14th and was talking with Defense Minister Suh Wook before the meeting started. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Kangwook Jo and Jinyoung Jeon] An area equivalent to 3.1 times the size of Yeouido will be removed from military facility protection zones. This measure includes parts of the Seoul metropolitan area such as Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon, raising expectations that it will revitalize the local economy and ease housing supply constraints.

On the morning of the 14th, the Democratic Party and the government held a party-government meeting at the National Assembly to discuss the "lifting and easing of military facility protection zones" and decided to remove 9,053,894㎡ (approximately 2,743,000 pyeong) from the military facility protection zones. Park Wan-joo, the Democratic Party Policy Committee Chair, explained during a briefing after the meeting, "After collecting opinions on residents' property rights infringements and difficulties faced by local governments, and conducting continuous comprehensive investigations, we classified additional military facilities that can be lifted except for those necessary."

Areas removed from the protection zones will no longer require prior consultation with the military for construction and development permits. In Seoul, 53,466㎡ in the Umyeon-dong area of Seocho-gu will be lifted from the protection zone. The largest area to be lifted is in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, totaling 4,979,153㎡. The party and government also agreed to ease about 3.7 million㎡ of controlled protection zones to restricted protection zones. Selected areas include Cheorwon in Gangwon Province, Ganghwa County in Incheon, and parts of Yangju, Gwangju, and Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province. Additionally, for approximately 34.26 million㎡ of areas with minimal impact on military operations, local governments will be responsible for construction and development permits to alleviate civil complaints. This applies to parts of Paju, Goyang, Yangju, and Gimpo in Gyeonggi Province, Ganghwa County in Incheon, and Cheorwon, Yeoncheon, Yanggu, and Yangyang counties in Gangwon Province.

Accordingly, economic revitalization and increased housing supply are expected in these areas. However, some point out that the impact on the market may be limited as many areas in the metropolitan region are designated as land transaction permission zones. This party-government meeting appears to be a follow-up to the campaign pledge of Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung. Last year, Lee pledged to "reduce civilian control zones in border areas to half of the current size."