Mayor Lee Sangil: "Semiconductor New City to Feature 4.83 Million Sqm Idong Lake Park as Landmark"

Yongin to Build Korea’s Largest Lake Park in Cheoin-gu
2.4 Times the Size of Gwanggyo: 4.83 Million Square Meters of Waterfront Park Centered on Idong Reservoir
“A Healing Space for Advanced New City, Integrating Work, Residence, and Leisure, and a Cultural and Sports Hub”
Plans to Incorporate Master Park and Urban Plans into Higher-Level Development Strategies

Yongin Special City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Lee Sangil) is set to create the largest lake park in Korea by connecting Idong Reservoir and the Songjeon Stream area in Cheoin-gu, Idong-eup. This park will be more than twice the size of Gwanggyo Lake Park (2.02 million square meters), previously known as the largest lake park in Korea, and is expected to become a new landmark for Yongin.

Yongin Special City is creating a large-scale lake park that connects Idong Reservoir and Songjeon Stream walking trails. Provided by Yongin City

On March 16, Yongin Special City announced its plan to link the waterfront area of Idong Reservoir in Cheoin-gu, Idong-eup—where partial park development is already underway—with the future Songjeon Stream walking trail, thereby creating the largest lake park in the country.

Mayor Lee Sangil stated, "Idong Lake Park will transform into Yongin's landmark park, serving as a cultural and sports space for citizens, a leisure area for advanced IT talents working at the Idong and Namsa Samsung Electronics Advanced System Semiconductor National Industrial Complex, and a supporting recreational space for the public housing district (semiconductor specialized new city) being developed in Idong-eup based on the 'Work-Residence-Leisure' concept."

In relation to this, the city has included a plan to designate the 4,836,261 square meter area encompassing Songjeon-ri and Eobi-ri in Cheoin-gu, Idong-eup as an urban park in both the 2035 Yongin Park & Green Space Master Plan and the 2040 Yongin Urban Master Plan, and has requested approval from Gyeonggi Province.

In order to establish a large-scale urban park exceeding 100,000 square meters, it is necessary to reflect the required elements in the park & green space master plan and the urban master plan prior to designating the area as an urban park facility, pursuant to Article 19 of the National Land Planning and Utilization Act, Article 5(3), and Article 6(2) of the Urban Parks and Green Spaces Act.

Idong Reservoir is the largest reservoir in the Seoul metropolitan area. The planned area for Idong Lake Park includes a lake surface area of 2,697,762 square meters (about 820,000 pyeong), and the land area surrounding the lake is 2,138,499 square meters (about 650,000 pyeong). The land area alone is much larger than the combined area of two 18-hole golf courses (each about 270,000 pyeong).

The combined area of the lake and land is about 2.4 times greater than that of Gwanggyo Lake Park (2,025,000 square meters), which is currently considered the largest lake park in Korea.

The city plans to create sports and leisure facilities along the lower waterfront of Idong Reservoir, where visitors can enjoy water sports or appreciate the lakeside scenery. On land, the city is considering establishing a multi-purpose cultural center, sports facilities, greenhouse gardens, and lakeside cafes, as well as a healing forest retreat, arboretum, and camping grounds to provide citizens with a relaxing and recreational space.

Additionally, the city aims to connect Idong Lake Park, which will serve as a supporting park for the advanced system semiconductor national industrial complex, with nearby walking trails along Songjeon Stream and Jinwi Stream, creating a massive waterfront park.

As part of the new city and the advanced system semiconductor national industrial complex in Idong-eup, the city is considering developing the waterfront areas of Yongdeoksa Stream and Songjeon Stream, stretching from Yongdeok Reservoir in Muk-ri to Idong Reservoir, into leisure and relaxation spaces for citizens. The city intends to connect these areas to Idong Lake Park, thereby creating a waterfront park befitting Yongin’s status as a global semiconductor hub.

Yongin Special City is creating a large-scale lakeside park connecting Idong Reservoir and Songjeoncheon Trail. Photo by Yongin City

The circumference of Idong Reservoir exceeds 13 kilometers. When combined with the 8.5 kilometers of walking trails along Songjeon Stream and Yongdeoksa Stream, the city believes the area will provide excellent walking and cycling paths for residents.

The city plans to utilize Idong Lake Park, being developed as a Yongin landmark, not only as a recreational space for citizens but also to address the shortage of cultural facilities in Cheoin-gu.

At the final report meeting for the "Yongin Vision 2040 Future City Development Strategy," held on March 9, the Yongin Institute for City Policy suggested creating cultural facilities around Idong Reservoir and linking them to the performance venues and museums that Mayor Lee Sangil has announced for the new town in Idong-eup, forming a cultural belt in the region. The institute also proposed installing terraces and cultural facilities along the Idong Reservoir and Songjeon Stream waterfront, as well as concentrating commercial facilities in these areas to create an eco-friendly relaxation space with cultural and tourism functions.

The reason Yongin Special City and the Yongin Institute for City Policy can devise such diverse plans for the Idong Lake Park site is because the Idong Reservoir area remains undeveloped and has few artificial structures.

Mayor Lee Sangil commented, "The Idong Reservoir area was designated as the Songtan Water Source Protection Zone in 1979 but was released from these restrictions in December 2024 after 45 years, making it a blank canvas. The region is vast and the terrain is gentle, so we are conducting research to determine how best to develop beneficial facilities and spaces for citizens by leveraging our imagination."

Meanwhile, development of the Idong Reservoir area had been restricted for 45 years since its designation as the Songtan Water Source Protection Zone in 1979. However, with the lifting of restrictions in December 2024, large-scale park development has become possible. Even before the official park designation, Yongin City has already taken practical steps toward park development by installing a 2-kilometer perimeter trail and wooden deck in the Songjeon-ri area near the center of Idong-eup for citizen convenience, and by establishing a photo zone featuring the official Yongin character "Joayong."

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