[Yang Nak-gyu's Defense Club] Will the Proposal to Relocate the Korea Military Academy Ignite Again? (Comprehensive)

Housing Supply Accelerates on Taereung Golf Course Site

Relocation of Korea Military Academy Regional Office Also Becoming Practically Inevitable

Korea Military Academy located in Nowon-gu, Seoul

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu Reporter] Plans to supply housing by utilizing the state-owned Taereung Golf Course site are expected to gain momentum. In particular, full-scale discussions regarding the relocation of the Korea Military Academy are also anticipated.

On the 20th, during a weekly meeting with Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun at the Blue House, President Moon Jae-in decided to discuss ways to utilize the state-owned Taereung Golf Course site by maximizing the discovery of national and public facility sites to expand housing supply, according to a press release from the Prime Minister's Office. It was decided not to lift the controversial Greenbelt development restriction.

The military facilities, Korea Military Academy and Taereung Golf Course, are located in Nowon-gu, Seoul. The area alone amounts to 1,496,979㎡ (approximately 450,000 pyeong), and including the nearby Taereung Athletes' Village site, it reaches 2.5 million㎡. Considering that Seoul's Gireum New Town (1.24 million㎡), Singil Redevelopment Promotion District (990,000㎡), and Ahyeon Redevelopment Promotion District (760,000㎡) supplied between 18,500 and 19,530 housing units respectively, it is possible to supply more than 20,000 housing units. The Korea Military Academy is also highly valued for its location, being adjacent to Hwarangdae Station and Bonghwasan Station on Subway Line 6, and Galmae Station on the Gyeongchun Line.

More than 20,000 housing units are sufficiently possible when supplying housing at Taereung Golf Course; leading candidates for Korea Military Academy relocation include Dongducheon, Hwacheon-gun, Sangju-si, and Nonsan-si

If housing is supplied on the Taereung Golf Course site, the issue of relocating the Korea Military Academy is expected to resurface. The Korea Military Academy, established in 1946, has aging buildings and only about 4,000 personnel related to its operation, leading to criticisms of inefficient land use. The Air Force Academy relocated from Daebang-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul to Cheongju, Chungbuk, and the Korea National Defense University moved from Sangam-dong, Seoul to Nonsan, Chungnam. For these reasons, voices calling for the relocation of the Korea Military Academy have emerged.

Many local governments hope to host the Korea Military Academy. Dongducheon City in Gyeonggi Province proposes Camp Hovey, a U.S. military base relocated to Pyeongtaek, as a replacement site for the Korea Military Academy. Camp Hovey covers a total area of 14.05 million㎡ (approximately 4.25 million pyeong), larger than the combined area of the Korea Military Academy and Taereung Golf Course. Hwacheon-gun in Gangwon Province recently officially proposed the relocation of the Korea Military Academy amid difficulties caused by the disbandment and relocation of regional military units under Defense Reform 2.0. The number of military personnel in Hwacheon-gun is about 27,000, exceeding the resident population of approximately 24,000, so the disbandment of military units would inevitably worsen the local economy. Sangju-si in Gyeongbuk Province held an employee academy last year to build consensus on hosting and relocating the Korea Military Academy and has been promoting the background for attracting the academy. Nonsan-si in Chungnam emphasizes its proximity to Gyeryong-si, where the three military headquarters are located, arguing that it is suitable for strengthening defense competitiveness and developing into a future defense city. These local governments justify attracting the Korea Military Academy as a means of regional balanced development.

The Ministry of National Defense stated in a text message sent to the press corps in the afternoon, "Regarding the plan to supply housing by utilizing the Taereung Golf Course site, we will comprehensively consider the necessity and urgency of expanding public housing supply volumes promoted as a national policy, as well as the impact on military welfare, and discuss with relevant ministries and local governments."

Earlier, on the 16th, Moon Hong-sik, Deputy Spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense, responded to inquiries about related reports by saying, "As far as I know, there have been no discussions regarding housing supply around the Taereung Golf Course area." However, as the ruling party raised the possibility of utilizing the Taereung Golf Course site, and the site was mentioned as a housing supply site during the weekly meeting between President Moon Jae-in and Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on the day, the position appears to have changed.

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