Some of the sites of the US military base in Yongsan, Seoul, which will be built as a national park, have been returned.



The government announced today (11th) that it has agreed to return 11 US military bases and 2 Yongsan bases by holding a joint committee of the 201 US Forces Korea Status Agreement (SOFA) with the United States.



What is notable is the return of the two areas of Yongsan Station.



The sports field site (45,000m2) in the South Post in the southern area of ​​Yongsan Base and the site of the softball stadium adjacent to the National Museum of Korea (8,000m2) have been decided to return today.



Since the Yongsan base, which will be created as a national park, may take a long time to return after the entire base is closed, the government has discussed with the US on a plan to return the areas sequentially according to the situation and conditions of each area within the base.



Currently, most of these sites are in lawn condition and do not have special facilities.



There is some contamination of the land, but it is not at a serious level, so the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport believes that it will be able to open it to the general public from March to April next year after completing necessary security measures such as installing a fence.



The site returned this time is 53,000m2, which is 2.6% of the area subject to return of Yongsan Station (2,300,000m2), but it is meaningful in that it took the precious first step in returning the base.



Of course, there are many precedents in which part of the Yongsan base used by the US military was returned.



The National Museum of Korea and Yongsan Family Park were originally part of the Yongsan base.



Officers' accommodation, which is currently open to the general public, is the land returned by the US military in 1986, regardless of the SOFA procedure.



The land of the Jangyo's accommodation was owned by the Ministry of Defense and the building was leased to the U.S. Army with the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH).



However, this is the first time that the land has returned to our arms since the entire relocation and return of the Yongsan Station was promoted.



It is true that there was a limit to speeding up the business, as it was not known when the base would be returned even if the Yongsan base was attempted to become a park.



However, as the base will be returned first in some cases, the government's park construction is expected to accelerate further.



The total area of ​​Yongsan Park is 2.91 million square meters.



Initially, the government set a goal to complete the Yongsan Park by 2027, but the timing has been slightly pushed since 2030.



Last July,'WEST8' and'Rojae Lee', the winners of the international competition for the Yongsan Park Creation Plan, released the plan of'Healing: The Future Park', and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is recruiting 300 people from the public participation team to collect public opinions related to the park. is.



Participating groups will establish the identity of Yongsan Park and explore ideas for Yongsan Park use programs and ways to utilize the historical and cultural heritage of Yongsan Park.



Through this, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to finalize the park development plan at the end of next year.



The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Seoul Metropolitan Government are holding a contest for the name of Yongsan Park, and more than 9,000 cases were received.



In addition, the camp Kim (48,000m2) site was included in the return of the US military base.



The Camp Kim site, located near the Samgak area in Yongsan-gu, will be developed by the government as a residential site to provide 3,100 households including public lease.



(Photo = material provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Yonhap News)