Is the Communication Space 'Yongsan Park' Mentioned by President-Elect Yoon Possible?

On the 21st, an opening event was held for the 5th complex of officer residences within the Yongsan Park site in Seoul. The photo shows the park as revealed on that day. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] One of the reasons why the new Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan, Seoul, is being considered as a candidate for the presidential office is “communication with the people.” Inspired by the White House and its surrounding park in the United States, the plan is to turn the land freed up by relocating the U.S. military base in Yongsan into a park and connect it with the presidential office space to create a space that the public can use together. On the 18th, the president-elect’s side stated, “The best places should be returned to the people,” and added, “President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol’s intention is to come down from absolute power and not be above the people but to be among them,” which aligns with this idea.

However, the creation of Yongsan Park, which spans 3 million square meters, seems practically impossible within President-elect Yoon’s term. Last month, South Korea and the United States agreed to return part of the U.S. military base in Yongsan, Seoul. So far, about 218,000 square meters of the Yongsan base have been returned, slightly exceeding 10% of the total Yongsan base area (2.03 million square meters). The two countries also agreed to negotiate for the return of up to 500,000 square meters, about one-quarter of the entire Yongsan base, within the first half of this year, but this plan also has slim chances of realization.

The entire Yongsan base is expected to be completely closed after the relocation of remaining units such as the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command to the Pyeongtaek base and the completion of facility construction for a small unit protecting some remaining facilities in Yongsan. Because of this, some believe that not only the opening of Yongsan Park but even the start of construction may be difficult by the end of Yoon’s term in 2027.

The unresolved issues of environmental pollution responsibility and cleanup cost burden for the returned bases, on which South Korea and the U.S. have not reached agreement, are also difficult challenges to solve immediately. When four bases in Wonju, Bupyeong, and Dongducheon were returned last year, pollution was confirmed without exception at the U.S. military bases. Among the returned U.S. military bases, the Ministry of National Defense has completed cleanup at 17 bases so far, with cleanup costs amounting to about 215.6 billion won.

The U.S. side has argued during negotiations that the pollution does not meet their environmental cleanup standard for returned bases, called “KISE” (Known, Imminent, Substantial, and Emergency risk to human health). On the other hand, the South Korean government insists that since the pollution meets the KISE criteria, the U.S. should bear the cleanup costs. The difference in opinions between the two countries is significant, and no agreement has been reached this time either.

A military official said, “We are pushing forward with the return of U.S. military bases in South Korea as soon as possible, but the return schedule has not yet been decided,” adding, “We plan to continue discussions on the issue of environmental pollution cleanup costs.”

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