Won Hee-ryong “Enactment of the 1st new city special law, the completion of the ‘master plan’ must come first in order to form a consensus”

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong took a cautious stance on the enactment of the first new city special law, saying, “It is necessary to have a long-term master plan and carry it out.”

Minister Won said in a discussion at the Kwanhoon Club, held on the 20th floor of the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 29th, “Rather than focusing on putting in only provisions that can benefit the first new town development project, we should have a direction for how the new town should go in the future. We need to have a long-term plan,” he said.

Earlier, on the 30th of last month, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport launched the ‘Private-Private Joint Task Force for the Reorganization of the 1st New City’. Rather than simply carrying out sporadic maintenance projects centered on some complexes, the plan is to establish a ‘master plan’ from the perspective of urban regeneration, such as maintenance of old houses, expansion of infrastructure, improvement of metropolitan transportation, and improvement of urban functions.

Minister Won said, “I think it is most desirable to establish a master plan that covers the various problems and solutions of the first new city as soon as possible, and to enact legislation (the first new city special law) to support it.” It is not possible to pinpoint the current timing as to whether or not it will be possible in a few months, but I think that the planning process should be faithfully carried out, and the process of public discussion through this process should also be faithfully accomplished.”

Regarding this, when pointed out that ‘the first phase new town development project could be delayed,’ Minister Won took a step back, saying, “The master plan completion work and the legislative process of the first new city special law are not tied to each other.” The more the plan and the work of enacting the special law are linked, the more specific the special law will be,” he said.

He added, “The primary mission of the TF is to create a faithful master plan, and it is the National Assembly’s job to make a law with a high degree of perfection.”

Regarding the controversy over the preferential treatment for the first new city, he said, “I don’t think there is a need to give a forward-looking answer in a situation where it is not clear what will be included in the first new city special law.”

Meanwhile, Minister Won announced on the same day that he would announce the specific action plan for ‘Supply of 2.5 million housing units + α’, a major national task of the Yun Seok-yeol administration, before Liberation Day (August 15).

Minister Won said, “Securing supply itself is not a problem. Rather, we will prepare and announce a housing supply method that can improve the quality of housing and reflect changes in ‘lifestyle’ due to the expansion of single-person households.” .