Mayor Yudonggyun of Mapo District Proposes Formation of '4-Party Consultative Body' Among Ministry of Land, Seoul City, Mapo District, and Residents After 8 Days of 'Fasting Suspension'

Yu Gu-cheong: "Difficult to Accept Public Housing Construction Without Concrete Solutions to Issues"... Statement Released at 'On-site District Office' in Front of Mapo District Office Main Gate at 2 PM on the 17th... Local Residents' Request to End Hunger Strike Accepted... Decision Made to End 8-Day Hunger Strike

Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu (second from the left), is announcing a statement on the suspension of his hunger strike on the 17th, while Jeong Cheong-rae, a member of the National Assembly, and others look on.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yoodonggyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, announced a statement on the 17th at 2 p.m. in the ‘On-site Mayor’s Office’ at the plaza in front of the main gate of Mapo-gu Office regarding the housing supply plan for 6,200 households in the Sangam-dong area. He proposed “forming a ‘four-party consultative body’ involving the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Seoul City, Mapo-gu, and local residents to establish a ‘Comprehensive Plan for the Sangam-dong Area’ tailored to regional characteristics, and to prepare the optimal plan through sufficient discussion.”

Mayor Yoo maintained a stance of actively agreeing with the government’s real estate policy direction after the government’s housing supply plan announcement on the 4th, but expressed “concern and regret over the announcement being made without prior consultation with Mapo-gu,” adding, “Due to this unilateral announcement by the Ministry of Land, the housing projects (including public housing) that Mapo-gu had been promoting, such as MH Mapo Housing, are all at risk of being halted.”

Additionally, since the 10th, he had set up an ‘On-site Mayor’s Office’ in a tent at the plaza in front of the Mapo-gu Office main gate and had been fasting for eight days.

This stemmed from Mayor Yoo’s firm determination as the mayor responsible for protecting and safeguarding the residents, who could not remain passive while residents, putting aside their livelihoods, protested against the government’s plan by taking to the streets, and from his desire to “share the pain” felt by local residents and directly listen to voices from the field.

During this period, hundreds of local residents opposing the housing supply plan for the Sangam area visited the ‘On-site Mayor’s Office,’ and some conveyed their opinions through individual meetings with the mayor.

On the 17th, dozens of resident representatives, including the ‘(tentative name) Residents’ Union Emergency Countermeasures Committee’ opposing the construction of public housing in Sangam-dong, along with National Assembly member Jeong Cheong-rae, Seoul City Council members Kim Ki-deok and Jeong Jin-sul, and local district council members, visited the ‘On-site Mayor’s Office’ and earnestly requested the mayor to stop fasting for the smooth operation of district administration, including COVID-19 resurgence countermeasures and urgent local issues.

They said, “We have met many residents and communicated at the ‘On-site Mayor’s Office,’ and we believe the mayor’s intention to be with the residents has been well conveyed and that residents’ opinions have been sufficiently collected,” adding, “There are many urgent tasks to attend to, so please stop fasting as it is detrimental to your health.” Accepting the residents’ opinions, Mayor Yoo decided to end the fast that had lasted eight days since the 10th.

In the statement released that day, Mayor Yoo said, “Sangam-dong has long suffered under the stigma of being called ‘Garbage Mountain’ due to the landfill of various wastes from Seoul City on Nanji Island for 15 years starting in 1978,” and explained, “Although land development was carried out to create the Digital Media City, a domestic high-tech industrial hub, the necessary infrastructure was not properly established at that time, so issues such as lack of school facilities and traffic congestion remain unresolved.” He highlighted the difficulties residents are experiencing.

Furthermore, Mayor Yoo expressed deep concern that if 6,200 households, equivalent to half of the total households in Sangam-dong, are supplied unilaterally without sufficient consideration of these preconditions, the residential environment for residents will deteriorate significantly.

Yoodonggyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, disclosed in detail the problems that would arise if 6,200 new households are supplied in Sangam-dong and the essential demands of Mapo-gu to resolve these issues through the statement.

First, Mayor Yoo predicted that “the World Cup-ro, which connects Gyeonggi-do and downtown Seoul, will inevitably see increased traffic due to regional developments such as the nearby Unjeong and Changneung districts, and if public housing is added, traffic volume could increase by up to 40% compared to now.” He emphasized the need for “expansion of the urban railway network in the Sangam-dong area, prompt completion of the World Cup Bridge, and a groundbreaking comprehensive traffic plan to resolve congestion on World Cup-ro” as prerequisite tasks.

Additionally, he stressed, “When 6,200 households move in, the number of middle school students will increase by 682, requiring 26 additional classes, and the number of elementary students will increase by 770, necessitating 10 additional classes. Without new schools and site acquisition, accommodating these students is absolutely impossible.”

He also urged the government to propose specific solutions for issues such as expanding childcare facilities, managing increased household waste, increasing green spaces due to reduced park area per capita, and adjusting administrative districts due to increased administrative demand. He earnestly appealed to the government that pursuing unilateral public housing construction without considering various problems and regional characteristics is unacceptable from the perspective of Mapo residents who have endured many inconveniences.

Meanwhile, the Mapo District Council convened the 242nd extraordinary session on the 14th and passed a resolution opposing the supply of public housing utilizing idle land in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu. The resolution was initiated by Vice Chairman Shin Jong-gap, Council Operations Committee Chairperson Choi Eun-ha, and Council Member Kim Ki-seok, citing reasons for opposing public housing supply in Sangam-dong and urging the creation of a future growth base space for residents through infrastructure expansion as originally planned.

Yoodonggyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, stated, “The development of public housing in Sangam-dong should be planned in a way that does not hinder balanced development between Gangnam and Gangbuk, taking into full account infrastructure such as transportation, education, environment, and welfare, and should create new opportunities for residents of Mapo-gu and the northwestern part of Seoul.” He added, “We will actively collect residents’ opinions and prepare the optimal plan to propose to the government so that the development plan matches local realities and demands.”

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