Green Belt Loosened Next Year

The government is considering the cancellation of the Green Belt (the limited development district) for 9.2 million Pyong in the nation, which is 100 times larger than Yoido.

According to the source of the Ministry of Construction and Transportation and its affiliated institution Korea Research Institute for Human Settlement, the government is reviewing its plan to rescind the limited development district for 9.265 Pyong (306.3 km*2, that is, 7.15 percent of all Green Belt area) in the 7 major cities of the nation, including the capital area, Pusan area, Daegu area.

A related source of MCT told that the Ministry noticed the plan to the local government and had collected the opinions. ``Detail time schedule and the applied area are to be discussed at the meeting with related officials of the local government on June 7,`` he added.

The capital area, the reviewed area for the cancellation which covers 106.6 km*2, is 7.2 percent of the Green Belt in the area and 36 times larger than Yoido.

A MCT official said, ``The final decision could be very different from the original plan since the basic plan was established only by mapping, which therefore did not reflect the real situation and the requests of the local government.``

Meanwhile, the applied area of the Green Belt cancellation has become large. The whole Green Belt area of Chuncheon city is to be cancelled in July. It would be the second to Cheju that the whole Green Belt area of a city is cancelled. Other local cities including Chongju, Jeonju, Yosu, Jinju, Tongyeong, are to decide the basic plan for the city`s development and to cancel the Green Belt area in the regions.

In addition, the surrounding area of the Kori nuclear plant, Kyongbuk, is to be freed from the limited development district around September this year and consequently the residents will exercise their property rights such as building new apartments and stores.

Once an area is removed from the Green Belt and is transferred to a reserved green zone, the residents could build residential buildings, such as single or tenement houses, and the first vicinity living facility, including stores, public baths, barber shops, within 20 percent coverage ratio and 100 percent capacity ratio.

Koo Ja-Ryong bonhong@donga.com