The government plans to open a park in the former U.S. military base in Yongsan, Seoul, which the U.S. Forces Korea returned, by the end of this year without undergoing any cleanup despite that contamination of soil and underground water has exceeded safety standards. The government will only take temporary measures, such as restricting entrance and the time visitors stay in the park. President Yoon Suk-yeol (Yoon Seok-youl) ordered his officials to open the U.S. base to the public within this year, along with the relocation of the presidential office to Yongsan. And to carry out this order, the government will first open the park after makeshift measures and no cleanup operation. This has led to criticism of a hasty plan focused on opening the park rather than on the safety of the citizens.

The Yoon Suk-yeol government announced that it would gradually open the front lawn of the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan, which was used by the USFK, in September. According to plans to execute state tasks, the government will get back 548,000m2 of land in the South and Main Post near the defense ministry by the second quarter this year and will temporarily open part of this land in the fourth quarter. They are considering opening the school, residences, track field and ballpark used by the U.S. Forces.

The problem is that the soil and underground water pollution in the site that will be opened is more serious than the standard required for a park. According to the environmental survey and risk assessment report by the Ministry of Environment, which the Kyunghyang Shinmun obtained through independent lawmaker Youn Mee-hyang, the soil and underground water around the residences in the South Post, which the USFK returned last February, was contaminated at a rate that surpassed standards for parks. The Soil Environment Conservation Act stipulates that to create a park, the level of soil contamination in the area needs to fulfill the standard for Area 1. But the environmental ministry survey showed that the level of known carcinogens, benzene and phenol, in this area was respectively 3.4 times and 2.8 times higher than the Area 1 standard. The level of total petroleum hydrocarbons was 29 times higher than the standard.

The government plans to temporarily open the site by the end of this year and use it as a park. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it would take temporary measures to reduce the hazards, such as restrict entrance and hours and cap the land. Capping means covering the polluted area with asphalt, sidewalks and grass so as not to expose the contaminated soil. In this case, since the polluted soil has not been completely cleaned, people can physically inhale hazardous substances that float in the air. Restricting the entrance and time of visitors using the park was suggested after taking into consideration the fact that staying in the contaminated site for over a certain period of time could have a harmful effect on the people’s bodies.

An official from the land ministry said over the phone, “According to the exposure, some of the substances could enter the body through physical contact or by inhaling them, so we plan to restrict the duration of the people’s stay,” and added, “We will prevent people from accessing areas with a lot of risk factors by installing a fence around them.” As for why any soil cleanup operation was missing from the plans for temporary measures, the official said, “We are in a difficult position to carry out cleanup operations because there has been no agreement on who would conduct the cleanup and shoulder the costs (between South Korea and the U.S.).”

At the same time, the official said that the government was opening the site temporarily because “We can’t wait for seven-plus years.” The Moon Jae-in government had estimated that it would take at least seven years to clean up the pollution and create a park after the Yongsan base was returned. According to that estimate, given that 75% of the Yongsan base has yet to be returned, it would be impossible to open the Yongsan Park while President Yoon was in office. In this situation, the government is trying to carry out the orders of President Yoon to open some of the U.S. base site within this year, so naturally, it will open the site after temporary measures and no cleanup.

Choi Yeong, an activist of the Korea Federation of Environmental Movements in Seoul said, “The fact that the government is taking these temporary measures means that they are aware of the danger. It’s hard to understand why they are trying to hurry and open the park without even fundamentally solving the problem of hazardous substances for the safety of the people.” He also expressed his concern saying, “Damages from environmental pollution cannot be seen immediately, so I am concerned that the pollutants could accumulate in the bodies of the citizens visiting this place.” As for the restriction on time spent in the park, Choi argued, “A park is a place where a visitor should stay as long as he wants to take a break from everyday life,” and added, “I don’t even know if we can call such a restrictive space a park.”

Lawmaker Youn Mee-hyang argued, “Opening the U.S. base in Yongsan as a park after temporary measures without a proper environmental cleanup is threatening the health and safety of the citizens,” and said, “The government can’t push ahead with plans to turn the U.S. base, smothered in carcinogens, into a park like this.”