Land Ministry Says Yongsan Park will Open in 2027

Here is the latest on the development of the Yongsan Park:

The idea of creating Yongsan Park became official in 2005 after the Roh Moo-hyun administration and the U.S. agreed to relocate troops there to Pyeongtaek. 

In 2007, the National Assembly passed a special act on the creation of the park and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport began allocating resources for it.

No one expected the relocation would take so long. 

One reason for the delay was that government had to find money to finance the Yongsan Relocation Plan ― which it was supposed to pay for. Occasional provocations from North Korea were also a factor that influenced the project. 

Now, the former U.S. site is more than 90 percent empty. 

The land ministry projects the park will be opened in 2027, but many, including the Ministry of National Defense responsible for the site return negotiations, are cautious, only saying it will largely depend on the talks which are expected to hit a stumbling block over the issue of soil contamination. 

The land ministry has got many things done so far.

In 2012, it selected a team of architects and urban planners to design the park ― the final version of the plan was made public last week and can be found at park.go.kr. 

The ministry is also carrying out aggressive public awareness campaigns about the park. 

In 2018, the ministry began offering tours of the garrison, inviting a limited number of residents to see the historic buildings and sites.

On Aug. 1, the ministry is opening up the 50,000 square meters of land that used to be a residential compound for U.S. military officers and their families. The land was returned to Korea in 1986 but instead of opening up to the public immediately, the government built new houses and rented them to USFK personnel until the end of last year.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but how many people think all of Yongsan Garrison will be turned into a park? I also wonder if the historic Imperial Japanese era buildings will be torn down as well.