ROK Government Reaches Land Swap Deal with Lotte for THAAD Site
The long disclosed location for the THAAD site in South Korea is one step closer to becoming a reality:
South Korea’s defense ministry reached a tentative land-swap deal Wednesday with a major conglomerate to acquire the planned site for an advanced U.S. missile defense system aimed at countering the growing threat from North Korea.
The agreement brings Washington and Seoul a step closer to their goal of deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, known as THAAD, next year.
The Ministry of National Defense said it agreed to give the Lotte Group, one of South Korea’s largest family-run conglomerates, state-owned military land near Seoul in exchange for the Lotte Skyhill Country Club in the southeastern Seongju area.
After appraisals of both sites, the board of directors of golf club’s operator, Lotte International, will meet to consider the deal, which will be adjusted if there’s a large gap in value, the ministry said in a statement. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link.
Is it just me, or did the Korean government just agree to give Lotte control of Yongsan? The phrase “state-owned military land near Seoul” speaks volumes in the six words written. Seoul has always said that they were going to turn Yongsan into a “Peoples’ Park” after the U.S. military vacated the premises. Who better than Lotte to develop that? They already have at least a 4-star hotel complex there (Dragon Hill). Guess we’ll see….
They say the golf course’s value could range from 45-85 billion won. Think in terms of apartments in the Yongsan area. A 50 pyong, newer apartment in this area goes for well over a billion won. So a 40-story apartment building with 2-3 apartments on each floor is already worth well over the value of this golf course. Take it one step further and ask – how many apartment buildings could you build on the land Yongsan garrison occupies? Open Naver Maps and look at Yongsan and then look at the apartment complexes surrounding it. I’d say you could easily fit 150 apartment buildings on South Post alone (that’s actually pretty conservative). Toss in Main Post and that goes up to at least 250 apartment buildings. I think it’s safe to say that land is worth enough that Lotte ain’t thinking it might be an option.
Not to mention … the land they are getting isn’t in Seoul. It’s in Gyeonggi province, near Seoul.
Guitard,
I don’t think the government plans to build any housing on the site of the soon-to-be former site of Yongsan Army Garrison. The last I remember hearing about the plans was that they had plans to turn it into a “Peoples’ Park” much in the same vein as “Central Park” is in New York, a place where the citizens can go to escape the hustle and bustle of the city.
So, if not Yongsan where? The only military facility of any size in Gyeonggi Province, other than Osan and Humphreys, would be Camp Red Cloud in Uijongbu and, correct me if I am wrong oh esteemed moderator GIKorea, but I don’t think Red Cloud has enough land to be a good golf course. Correct???
@Tagum City Tim, I don’t think it is Camp Red Cloud because it was recently announced that it was to be used as a museum and Pororo Theme Park once it is closed:
https://www.rokdrop.net/2016/11/government-announces-camp-red-cloud-will-become-a-museum-and-pororo-theme-park/
The only reason I mentioned housing was to try and give you an idea of how valuable that land is. That’s about as prime as prime can get when it comes to real estate. Lotte can do whatever it wants to do with the land that it gets; and it doesn’t necessarily have to be another golf course.
I strongly doubt the Government will give Lotte Yongsan, and CRC is already earmarked, but what about Casey, Hovey or Stanley? I know Camp Stanley was supposed to go to Uijeongbu, to become a college, but that was in 2012. Stanley was still a base in 2014 when I left.
Could they mean a Korean Base? Plenty of those around.