After the National Assembly Moves to Sejong, What About Yeouido Development?... Urgent Call for Rapid Reconstruction into a High-Rise Residential Area in Yeouido

On the morning of the 29th, National Assembly member Kim Min-seok and Yeongdeungpo District Mayor Chae Hyun-il held a press conference at the National Assembly to announce the promotion vision of the 'Yeouido Global New Town 10 Major Visions'

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Kim Min-seok, Chairman of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee (Yeongdeungpo-gu Eul, Seoul), Chae Hyun-il, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu, and Jeong Jae-woong, Seoul City Councilor (Yeouido, Singil), jointly announced the "Yeouido Global New Town 10 Major Visions," a future blueprint for Yeouido, at the National Assembly Press Hall on the 29th.

The announcement called for the restructuring of Yeouido into a new town in the city, including the recent redevelopment situation of Yeouido, the passage of the "National Assembly Act Amendment" centered on the establishment of a branch of the National Assembly Sejong Hall, and the bio strategy proposed by Assemblyman Kim Min-seok during the National Assembly's government questioning on September 16, which includes the bio hub development of Yeouido.

The 10 major visions are as follows:

① Rapid reconstruction of Yeouido as an eco-friendly, smart, and super high-rise residential area

② Gradual normalization of the 54m height restriction in West Yeouido along with the relocation of the National Assembly

③ Early relocation of the National Assembly to build the world's best digital assembly hall in Sejong, and full conversion of the Yeouido National Assembly into a bio and fintech hub

④ Establishment of a K-Bio One-Stop Center combining a global vaccine and immunology university, specialized hospitals, and bio offices on the LH site next to St. Mary's Hospital

⑤ Creation of an eco-friendly artificial mountain called "Yeomin Mountain" in Yeouido, which lacks natural mountains

⑥ Transformation of Saetgang into an "ecologically friendly healing and therapeutic forest" with a public-private joint governance involving residents and citizens

⑦ Development of three major youth sports experience centers including eco-friendly horseback riding, rowing, and yachting in the Hangang riverside area of West Yeouido near Hankyung

⑧ Establishment of Yeouido Global Citizen University within two years on the former MBC site

⑨ Declaration of barrier-free and waste-free Yeouido

⑩ Building resident participation and public-private joint governance

Assemblyman Kim Min-seok evaluated, "The Yeouido Global New Town 10 Major Visions will serve as a fresh catalyst for balanced development between Gangnam and Gangbuk in Seoul, leapfrogging into a global leading city, national balanced development, and a new urban operation model beyond Yeouido."

Mayor Chae Hyun-il of Yeongdeungpo-gu said, "This is to convey the voices of the local community for the development of Yeouido," and added, "We will do our best to help Yeouido rise as a city representing Asia beyond Seoul."

----------------------------------------------

2021 will mark a significant milestone in the history of Yeouido, Seoul's Manhattan, which has driven South Korea's political economy.

In the recent Seoul mayoral by-election, candidates from both ruling and opposition parties pledged to reconstruct the aging Yeouido apartment complexes, which are nearly 50 years old.

The aging apartments in Yeouido have become a serious safety issue that the community must collectively worry about beyond the residents' property rights.

After 20 years since former President Roh Moo-hyun's administrative capital pledge, the establishment of the Sejong National Assembly Hall was passed yesterday (September 28) by bipartisan agreement. The Speaker of the National Assembly evaluated that the Sejong Assembly Hall will become the core of national balanced development, and efficient National Assembly operation has become a new challenge.

As three representatives from Yeouido?an Assemblyman, a Mayor, and a City Councilor?we feel an immense responsibility for Yeouido's present and future. In response to these changes and Assemblyman Kim Min-seok's fintech and bio hub strategy proposed during the National Assembly's government questioning on September 16, we present 10 major visions to reset (restructure) Yeouido into a global new town.

1. Yeouido must be rapidly reconstructed as an eco-friendly, smart, and super high-rise residential area.

Yeouido, one of Seoul's three major downtowns along with Gangnam and Gwanghwamun,

- is required to undergo eco-friendly reconstruction using renewable energy and carbon neutrality in line with the current era,

- can implement cutting-edge smart reconstruction such as energy zero, waste zero, autonomous driving pilot zones, and barrier-free pilot zones, and

- can be reconstructed as super high-rise (up to 70 floors) due to the change of the reconstruction zoning to quasi-residential commercial area, the first in South Korea, thus it must be rebuilt based on the three principles of eco-friendliness, smartness, and super high-rise.

- The elementary, middle, and high schools, which recently faced controversy over green smart schools, should be rebuilt in an optimal location and form combined with waterfront cultural facilities, and public cultural and sports facilities supporting the international finance and bio district and national landmarks should be established together.

- We request transparent and prompt planning announcements from Seoul City and guarantee of resident participation in Yeouido reconstruction.

2. The 54m height restriction imposed on West Yeouido due to the presence of the National Assembly should be gradually normalized in line with the National Assembly's relocation and the development prospects of the finance and bio hub.

3. Given the agreement on the Sejong Assembly Hall project, the most efficient operation method for the National Assembly and the executive branch is to proceed with the construction of the new Sejong Assembly Hall and the full relocation of the Yeouido National Assembly as quickly as possible. The Sejong Assembly Hall should be completed early as the world's best digital National Assembly, and the Yeouido National Assembly should be fully converted into a bio and fintech hub.

- Yeongdeungpo and Yeouido are the second-best locations nationwide for fintech and new finance companies (61 companies in 2019), following Gangnam (74 companies as of 2019), making them optimal fintech hubs,

- They are also considered by bio experts as the best bio hubs to connect domestic bio clusters such as Osong, Songdo, Pangyo, Magok, and Daegu due to their global and financial accessibility,

- After the National Assembly's relocation to Sejong, the current Yeouido National Assembly Members' Office Building should be converted into 300 bio and fintech startup labs, the main building into a convention center, the library into a data center, and the courtyard into a citizen park,

- To realize the above, we will launch a nationwide signature campaign starting from Sejong City and Yeouido and request the National Assembly and government for early relocation.

4. The K-Bio One-Stop Center must be established immediately.

- The next 6 months to 1 year after achieving herd immunity against COVID-19 is a golden time to connect the international success of K-quarantine to the leap of K-bio.

- Designation as a global bio vaccine hub, hosting a global bio vaccine forum, establishing a global vaccine and immunology university, and forming a domestic bio cluster network are essential tasks.

- Even before the National Assembly relocation and bio hub creation, a K-Bio One-Stop Center should be newly established in Yeouido as a complex space combining a global office connecting domestic bio clusters, a global vaccine and immunology university (tentatively named Lee Jong-wook School), and specialized immune and vaccine hospitals.

- We propose the LH site next to St. Mary's Hospital in Yeouido, which has been reviewed as a public complex residence site, as the optimal location for the K-Bio One-Stop Center, and if necessary, Yeongdeungpo-gu will consult with the central government to secure alternative public rental sites.

- We request cooperation from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Seoul City, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to promote the bio one-stop center.

5. An eco-friendly artificial mountain (tentatively named Yeomin Mountain) should be created in Yeouido, which lost its natural mountains, to return it to the citizens.

- In 1975, when the National Assembly was built in Yeouido, Yangmal Mountain, where sheep and horses were raised, was removed, making Yeongdeungpo-gu the only district in Seoul without a mountain, causing inconvenience to residents.

- An eco-friendly artificial mountain like Acros Fukuoka (called the city's oasis with thousands of trees planted on 800 steps and facilities such as a music hall and international conference center) or Osaka Namba Parks (a 30-story high hill-shaped rooftop garden in the city center) should be created in the waterfront area of the current Yeouido Park and restructured as a national landmark.

- Along with this, Yeouido Park should be restructured into a 24-hour anchor-type urban park combined with GTX-B, an urban airport terminal, and a complex transfer facility, and private investment projects should also be actively considered. We request Seoul City's Public Development Planning Team to promptly process related tasks.

6. Saetgang Ecological Park should be jointly maintained with the Korea Forest Service and others as an ecologically friendly healing and therapeutic forest, with a public-private joint governance body composed of Yeongdeungpo residents and Seoul citizens as the operating entity. We propose the formation of a Saetgang citizen governance to Seoul City and the government.

7. We will create three major youth sports experience centers for eco-friendly horseback riding, rowing, and yachting in the Hangang riverside area of West Yeouido near the National Assembly, in cooperation with Seoul City and Yeongdeungpo-gu.

- "Anyone Horseback Riding," "Anyone Rowing," and solar-powered eco-friendly "Anyone Yachting" will provide the best cultural experiences for ordinary youth in Yeongdeungpo and become a good model to spread throughout Seoul and the nation.

8. We will establish Yeouido Global Citizen University.

- Yeongdeungpo-gu was the first in Seoul to start a pilot project for the nationwide lifelong scholarship system proposed and legislated by Assemblyman Kim Min-seok. Furthermore, within two years (by 2023), we will create a state-of-the-art lifelong education space on about 100 pyeong (approx. 330 square meters) of donated space on the third floor of the former MBC site and immediately form a steering committee including external experts to lead a new era of lifelong education.

9. We declare barrier-free and waste-free Yeouido.

- The newly created Yeouido Global New Town must become a paradise for socially vulnerable groups such as the elderly and disabled. Physical barriers in apartments, commercial buildings, and public facilities, as well as institutional barriers in urban operations, must be removed to eliminate psychological barriers of discrimination,

- Citizen participation and cutting-edge techniques must be activated to solve waste problems,

- We will start special projects for barrier-free and waste-free initiatives together with residents even before reconstruction.

10. We will realize the above tasks through resident participation and public-private joint governance.

The three of us will actively operate resident councils related to reconstruction, communicate with residents through press conferences, resident briefings, and local media promotions, and form a Yeouido Vision Promotion Committee excluding political colors to gather residents' will and strength.

The promotion of the Yeouido Global New Town 10 Major Visions will serve as a fresh catalyst for balanced development between Gangnam and Gangbuk in Seoul, leapfrogging into a global leading city, national balanced development, and presenting a new urban operation model beyond Yeouido.

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