Ruling Party and Government Lift Military Facility Protection Zone Equivalent to 34.7 Times Yeouido Area

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] The Democratic Party of Korea and the Ministry of National Defense have decided to lift restrictions on military facility protection zones covering 106,742,284㎡, equivalent to 34.7 times the area of Yeouido. Additionally, for areas where restrictions are not lifted, consultation duties will be delegated to local governments, allowing construction or development work to proceed without military consultation.

Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is delivering a keynote speech at the party-government meeting on the lifting and easing of military facility protection zones held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 14th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the morning of the 14th, the party and government held a meeting at the National Assembly to discuss these measures. Hong Ik-pyo, the Democratic Party Policy Committee Chair, stated, “We share the recognition that local residents and local governments have still experienced many inconveniences and damages related to military facility protection zones,” and added, “We have reclassified areas where restrictions can be lifted, excluding essential military facilities.”

After the meeting, Chair Hong announced in a press release, “After a thorough analysis of current military facilities and protection zones, we have decided to lift restrictions on 16 locations without military operational limitations, covering military facility protection zones equivalent to 34.7 times the area of Yeouido.”

87% of the areas where restrictions are lifted are located south of the Seoul metropolitan area, including front-line regions such as Goyang-si, Paju-si, and Gimpo-si in Gyeonggi-do, as well as Goseong-si and Hwacheon-si in Gangwon-do. The party and government also decided to include Gunsan-si in Jeollabuk-do and Nonsan-si in Chungcheongnam-do.

Furthermore, 1,328,441㎡ of controlled protection zones, where development was previously prohibited, have been relaxed to restricted protection zones, enabling local residents to exercise property rights. While new construction was effectively banned in controlled protection zones, making development difficult, in restricted protection zones, buildings can now be constructed with military consultation.

In areas such as Jangheung-ri in Cheorwon-gun, Paju-si, Yangju-si, and Pyeongtaek-si in Gyeonggi-do, although lifting of military facility protection zones is limited, development work requiring military consultation will now be handled by local governments. The Ministry of National Defense has allowed local governments to approve construction or development below certain building height thresholds instead of the military. This is expected to alleviate procedural inconveniences for local residents.

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