Embarrassed Taereung Golf Course District Lawmakers from the Ruling Party

Nowon, Guri, Namyangju Districts of the Ruling Party
Residents Also Move to Hold Protests Against Development
Challenges with Green Parks and Traffic Measures

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] As the government pushes to utilize the military-owned Taereung Golf Course site to expand housing supply, ruling party lawmakers representing the area are facing a difficult situation. Taereung Golf Course, located at the edge of Gongneung-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul, borders the Guri Galmae district to the east and the Namyangju Byeollae district to the north. All the members of the National Assembly from this area belong to the Democratic Party of Korea.

As the government actively moves to expand housing supply following the July 10 real estate measures, it is discussing plans to build housing on the site of the Taereung Golf Course owned by the Ministry of National Defense. The photo shows the Taereung Golf Course in Nowon-gu, Seoul, on the 21st. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

In Nowon-gu, where the golf course is located, residents have announced plans to hold a protest rally against the development on the 1st. Amid growing opposition, lawmakers Ko Yong-jin, Woo Won-shik, and Kim Sung-hwan, representing Nowon-gu Gap, Eul, and Byeong districts respectively, visited the Taereung Golf Course site on the 29th along with Nowon-gu Mayor Oh Seung-rok and received a briefing from officials of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

On the 30th, these lawmakers stated on Facebook, "We strongly conveyed the residents' concerns," adding, "Taereung CC is definitely land with preservation value. It is desirable to convert it into a green park." They also emphasized, "There must be sufficient urban planning reviews including innovation of transportation infrastructure in the area and realistic measures to alleviate traffic congestion. We express strong concerns about the way the relevant ministries are proceeding."

The situation is similar in other areas. The northern Namyangju Byeollae district and the eastern Guri Galmae district are constituencies of Democratic Party lawmakers Kim Han-jung and Yoon Ho-jung. These areas have many commuters traveling to major business districts such as Jongno, Euljiro, and Gangnam in Seoul, but the traffic conditions are poor. The Northern and Eastern arterial roads, used to enter downtown Seoul by car, are notorious for chronic congestion. By subway, residents must use the Gyeongui-Jungang Line and Gyeongchun Line, which have longer intervals between trains compared to other lines. Accordingly, in Namyangju, connecting and extending Seoul subway lines 4, 8, and 9, and in Guri, extending subway lines 6 and 9 and reducing intervals on the Gyeongchun Line have long been considered key local projects.

Within these areas, there is a consensus that metropolitan transportation measures for Guri and Namyangju must be prepared as soon as possible. Residents are filing complaints requesting the establishment of transportation plans first, such as having GTX Galmae Station stop and subway line extensions, warning that development of Taereung Golf Course without transportation measures will only bring traffic hell.

Lawmaker Kim Han-jung said in a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 31st, "There is opposition among residents, but on the other hand, there is also an expectation that housing supply will accelerate the implementation of metropolitan transportation network measures." Kim added, "Taereung Golf Course was originally a restricted area where civilian access was prohibited," and stated, "We have conveyed to the Prime Minister's Office, the Office for Government Policy Coordination, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport that development should proceed in a way that establishes infrastructure benefiting nearby residents and prepares metropolitan transportation network measures."

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