Yongsan Children's Garden, Worrying US Military Base Contamination for Embracing Children

Yongsan Base Returns to Citizens After 120 Years
Soil Contamination Concerns Persist... Civic Groups Say "Laden with Carcinogens"

The Yongsan Children's Garden in Seoul has become a focus of attention as it opened a day before Children's Day. The space, which had been a "forbidden land" not open to the public for 120 years, is returning to the citizens, raising expectations that it will become a special place. However, concerns about safety have also emerged due to soil contamination during the time the U.S. military was stationed there.

The Children's Garden is being opened for the first time in over 120 years after refurbishing the site, which was used as a U.S. military base in Korea, to be used as a garden.

Following the relocation of the presidential office to Yongsan last year, the return of the base accelerated. Out of approximately 2.43 million square meters (about 740,000 pyeong) of the Yongsan base, 584,000 square meters (about 180,000 pyeong) were returned in 2022, and 300,000 square meters (about 90,000 pyeong) of that area will be opened to the public.

President Yoon Suk-yeol is delivering a congratulatory speech at the opening event of the Yongsan Children's Garden, created in the front yard of the Yongsan Presidential Office in Seoul on the 4th. Photo by Yonhap News

However, concerns about safety related to the Children's Garden remain. During its use as a U.S. military base, frequent oil spill accidents occurred, leading to presumed soil contamination, and the area is being opened without proper soil remediation work.

The opposition party raised issues, stating, "They are reopening the area, including the part opened under the condition of 'only stay for 2 hours,' by covering it with 15 cm of soil." Kim Min-seok, chairman of the Democratic Party Policy Committee, said at a policy coordination meeting on the 4th, "Since the current government is not disclosing the data, it appears clear that it is not safe enough to be made public to the people," adding, "This is a serious mistake both in terms of public safety and national interest."

Environmental groups also raised their voices, saying the returned land is contaminated with various carcinogens and toxic substances. The Green Alliance and the Yongsan Citizens' Council for the Creation of a Complete Ecological Peace Park held a press conference on the 4th, stating, "The Ministry of Environment already revealed years ago through investigations that the sites are so severely contaminated under the Soil Environment Conservation Act that parks cannot be established there."

On the morning of the 4th, at the entrance of the Seoul Yongsan Children's Garden, created on the site returned by the US Forces Korea base, members of the Green Alliance staged a protest performance condemning the park's opening due to soil contamination issues on the site. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

They continued, "The General's Quarters Complex (A4b, A4f), baseball field site (A4d), and sports fields (A1, A2) where the Yongsan Children's Garden is being created are all contaminated with petroleum total hydrocarbons (TPH), which are fatal to humans, as well as xylene, lead, arsenic, mercury, and other heavy metals and carcinogens, exceeding the standards for park creation by as much as thirty times," adding, "This is no different from last year's shocking temporary opening, which claimed it was safe to visit the Yongsan Garden three times a week for two hours each time over 25 years without any significant contamination treatment."

The groups also urged soil remediation according to the "polluter pays principle." They stated, "Civil society has sought to apply the polluter pays principle to clearly hold the polluter, i.e., the U.S. military, responsible for environmental pollution at the military base. However, the government did not hold them accountable for remediation before the return and is creating a bad precedent by utilizing contaminated land without any cleanup," and insisted, "Even now, to protect citizens' health rights, the opening should be stopped and remediation according to the polluter pays principle should begin."

Meanwhile, the government announced that indoor and outdoor environmental monitoring has been conducted, confirming safety multiple times as all measurements were below environmental standards or similar to surrounding areas. The government plans to continue environmental monitoring to maintain safety going forward.