Yongsan Children's Garden, a part of the former US Army's Yongsan Garrison, is one of the potential sites for development (Newsis) Friction between the central government and Seoul City over the possible conversion of a green space in central Seoul is escalating, as the Lee Jae Myung administration readies to announce plans to expand housing supply.A Cheong Wa Dae official hinted Sunday that a new set of real estate measures will be announced this week. Although details are yet to be confirmed, it is widely expected that the announcement will be made on Aug. 13.The government's push to increase housing is set to source vacant lands to build more than 50,000 houses in the Seoul metropolitan area, while speeding up move-ins by streamlining administrative procedures and reforming regulations.The push is part of the Lee administration's efforts to stabilize the real estate market and reform property tax and loan regulations.A potential site is reportedly the Yongsan Children's Garden in Seoul. The park, opened in 2023, is located on land formerly occupied by US Army's Yongsan Garrison, whose main command operations and personnel relocated to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek. Parts of the former base have since been opened to the public as Yongsan Park.Subsidy projects at the 3 million square-meter site returned by the US Army are managed by the Korean Land & Housing Corporation. The state-run company acquires land and builds affordable housing under the supervision of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.Current law designates the former military base for use as a national park, and prohibits other uses of the land. Building houses in the Yongsan Children's Garden would require adding an exception clause to the law or removing the site from its current legal jurisdiction.Other potential sites reportedly include restricted development zones in Gangnam, Seoul, as well as areas in Yeouido owned by the Korean Land & Housing Corporation.The possible development of Yongsan Children's Garden immediately drew criticism from Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon."I cannot allow damaging even a centimeter of the Yongsan Park," said Oh in his Facebook post on Saturday. "Increasing housing supply is essential, but there is a principle we must uphold,"Calling Yongsan Park "Seoul's lungs," Oh referred to the recent heat wave as a climate crisis. He argued more green areas should be saved for the city and future generations.Oh also accused Lee of going against the previous administrations from the ruling bloc. Quoting the former president Roh Moo-hyun, Oh said Roh Yongsan called the site "a precious asset for the generations," and that Roh had called for "not building a single building on its grounds.""The Moon Jae-in administration inherited the philosophy and carried out the plan to landscape the Yongsan Park as a green space," Oh added, saying that building apartments on the site would go against the principles and philosophies built by previous Democratic Party of Korea presidents.Yongsan-gu Council Members from the main opposition People Power Party released a statement on Friday criticizing the government's unilateral action for considering housing development, saying, "The Yongsan site is an urban ecology which all people should have access to."