The national government and the Seoul city government are finding themselves increasingly at odds over what will happen to the prime piece of real estate in the middle of Seoul once the Yongsan Garrison relocation happens:

But the Seoul Metropolitan Government and some activists are up in arms about the plan, saying the central government is trying to legislate a special law to pave the way for development of some portion of the base in a bid to finance the relocation of the U.S. base. In a statement, Seoul City denounced the plan ceremony as ignoring the hopes of Seoul citizens to see the entire base area turned into a park. ¿The central government says it will turn the whole area of the base into a park, but it turns a deaf ear to the Seoul Metropolitan Government¿s demand to scrap Article 14 of the special law that would allow it to use the park for other purposes,¿ the statement says. ¿It has also rejected our proposal to specify the total scale and boundary of the park in the law.¿

The city government worries that the Construction Ministry would develop some portion of the land for commercial and residential purposes to finance the base relocation and wants the ministry guarantee that 810,000 pyeong (one pyeong=3.3 sq.m) of the 870,000-pyeong land will be turned into a park.

Seoul city mayor Oh Se-hoon due to the controversy with the national government didn’t even attend Korean President Roh Moo-hyun’s address proclaiming the national government’s post-Yongsan plan.  Here is what President Roh had to say about the government’s plans:

The government says it plans to lay out a massive park to preserve the green zone and commemorate the history of the area by 2045, the 100th anniversary of Korea¿s liberation from Japanese colonial rule. ¿It feels as though Yongsan is finally returning to Korea,¿ President Roh Moo-hyun said in an address. ¿After Japan occupied Korea, Yongsan was used as a stronghold for an imperialist country¿s invasion and rule. And after Korea achieved liberation, the U.S military stationed there reminded us of the fact that Korea relies on the U.S for national defense. But a park will be built in the area to symbolize the independence and peace of Korea.¿

Notice that President Roh has no intention of turning any portion of Yongsan into a park due to any environmental reasons; it is all about nationalism and equating the US presence at Yongsan with the Japanese occupiers prior to World War II.  Also notice the time line that any park would be complete by 2045.  That is plenty of time to build some high rise apartments make the national government some money and then knock them down in time for the 2045 deadline.

Look who else has made an appearance over this issue:

Some 30 environmental groups including the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement and Green Korea also urged the government to scrap the special law. ¿The plan to build a park in Yongsan should be a project to restore national pride and protect an ecosystem in Seoul,¿ they said at a press conference. ¿We cannot tolerate the central government¿s plan to sell a portion of the land and allow the construction of commercial and residential facilities to finance the relocation of the U.S. base.¿

Yes, Green Korea the same one’s who have been declaring recently closed US military bases as being “polluted” and a danger to the Korean population now wants Yongsan turned into a park as well.  Wouldn’t that threaten the lives of all the innocent Koreans out there who might attend this park because of all the USFK pollution on the base?  Yongsan’s pollution must be worse than any of the recently closed 2ID bases because Yongsan’s pollution even created a monster in the Han River.  However, notice just like I have been saying about their pollution claims against USFK bases it is not about environmentalism, it is about anti-US nationalism.  The first words coming out of their mouths is “to restore national pride”.  You never hear a real environmental group like the Sierra Club claiming “to restore national pride” as reasons to protect an ecosystem, yet that is what passes as environmentalism in Korea.  I guess there is no, “to restore national pride” reasons for Green Korea to campaign against for example all the picnickers polluting the Korean countryside every day.

I will go on the record and say I would be amazed if all of Yongsan Garrison is turned into a park and can understand why Mayor Oh Se-hoon is at odds with the government.  Mayor Oh is the newly elected mayor of Seoul who ran on a platform to make more of Seoul green in order to improve the quality of life of the city’s citizens and bring international recognition to the city for it’s efforts to improve the environment.

However, before a park or a sea of high rise apartments can be built, Yongsan Garrison has to be relocated.  Any bets if it will be relocated by 2008 as planned?  I for one think that is about as likely as all of Yongsan’s land being turned into a park.

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