Government: Yongsan Children's Garden Meets Environmental Safety Standards

The government announced that the air pollution levels measured at the recently opened Yongsan Children's Garden all met environmental safety standards.

On the 7th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that after conducting three indoor and outdoor environmental monitoring sessions over the past six months at Yongsan Children's Garden, harmful substances such as heavy metals like lead and copper, and benzene were found to be at levels similar to those of surrounding parks.

The government temporarily opened the site, which was returned after being used as a U.S. military base in Korea, as a children's park for citizens. However, concerns were raised about exposure to harmful substances as the petroleum-based total hydrocarbons (TPH), indicating the degree of soil contamination by oil, exceeded the standard levels.

The Ministry emphasized that the site was a space where children of U.S. military personnel had played until recently, and that safety measures were implemented by thoroughly isolating the existing soil with more than 15cm of soil covering the site and planting grass.

They also stated that the grass holds the soil in place to prevent soil erosion even during heavy rain, that areas where dioxins were detected were excluded from opening, and that benzo[a]pyrene was completely blocked by covering it with concrete.

Furthermore, they explained that periodic environmental monitoring confirmed once again that it is safe for both adults and children to use the garden throughout the day.

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