Yongsan USAFK Apartment Complex, No Construction Possible in Green Belt

Under the current law, it is impossible to build apartments in the house complex of the Yongsan military base in Seoul, where the U.S. Armed Forces in Korea is planning to construct an apartment complex.

According to Seoul Metropolitan government`s announcement on 9th, the existing house complex (45,000pyung) in the South Post, where USAFK planed to build apartment complex for officers` families belong to the green belt under the current Town Planning and Zoning Act. The green belt is the place where the Minister of Construction and Transportation has designated to preserve the natural surroundings and to prevent from rapid spreading of city area. In the green belt, only a single house, a tenement house, or facilities such as stores in the vicinity can be constructed.

Therefore, in order to construct apartments in this area, an alteration of purpose should be preceded. Especially through the reformation of SOFA in January this year, USAFK should consult the Ministry of National Defense (MND) and the local governments before constructing a new building. USAFK cannot alter the purpose of the land without permission.

Jin Chul-Hoon, the Director of the City Planning of Seoul city, said, "We had no way to keep USAFK from constructing a new building. But the situation has entirely changed. We will apply the domestic law since prior consultation is mandatory, and the land in question belongs to MND."

And he added, "even though there is an article in the SOFA regulations that a permission process can be omitted in case of building inside the military base, it doesn`t mean `without permission` New building has to be permitted by the MND after examining the regulations of the related domestic laws. If the USAFK pushes ahead the construction of apartments, we will take legal procedure."

Seoul City government plans to make it an agenda when USAFK calls for the consent on the apartment construction to the MND. Director Jin said, "we can offer convenience for the purpose of national security, but not through violating the law." And he asked, "Would the U.S. government alter the use of the land, if apartments for the Korean Military are to be constructed in the center of Washington, D.C.?"

jinhup@donga.com