As the government moves to supply 10,000 homes in the Yongsan International Business District, it is considering a plan to fill about half of the total with residential officetels.

According to a housing plan adjustment for the Yongsan International Business District by Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), obtained on the 19th through the office of People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Young-se, within the district that targets a total supply of 10,000 homes, 5,000 apartment units and 4,000 residential officetel units are to be allocated. Homes are also planned on the adjacent state-owned railway land for 1,000 units, which are likewise understood to be officetels, bringing the total officetel supply to 5,000 units.

This scale increases the number of apartments by about 1.4 times and the number of officetels by more than double compared with the earlier proposal by the Seoul Metropolitan Government for a total supply of 6,000 homes consisting of 3,500 apartments and 2,500 officetels.

The original intent of the Seoul Metropolitan Government was to concentrate office functions in the center of the district and assign residential functions to the surrounding hinterland. Under the initial plan, the center of the district would be an international business area without housing, residential officetels would be placed in the mixed-use business area and the railway land that serve as the surrounding hinterland, and apartments would be located in the business support area.

By contrast, the housing plan adjustment under review by the government (KORAIL) expands residential functions across the entire district. Even the international business area, which previously had no housing, would newly receive 796 residential officetel units. In the mixed-use business area, officetels would increase by 972 units, from 1,850 to 2,822. The business support area would gain an additional 1,500 apartment units, and 382 officetel units would be supplied in the cultural complex zone where cultural facilities are planned.

The share of rental housing also appears likely to rise. According to materials KORAIL submitted to Representative Kwon, the government is reviewing a plan to raise the share of rental housing from 25% to 35% so that it can be eligible for a rule that relaxes park·green space area requirements by 30%. Applying the standard that 6㎡ of park·green space must be secured per person would allow a maximum supply of 8,000 homes in the Yongsan district, but if the rental share is increased and this standard is relaxed by 30% from 6㎡ to 4.2㎡, the supply could reach 10,000 homes.

The Yongsan International Business District, which the Seoul Metropolitan Government envisioned as a business-centered mixed-use city, now has a high likelihood of being reorganized into a 10,000-unit residential mixed-use district with a greatly expanded residential component under the government-led policy to expand supply. As a result, positive effects such as an increase in housing supply in the city center are expected, but debates are likely to arise over school sites and over the identity of the international business district.