| Incheon's Seo District area, which is a military facility protection zone that the Ministry of National Defense is planning to release from development restrictions starting next Tuesday, is seen Thursday, the day the ministry rolled out the plan. Yonhap |
By Jung Da-min
The government announced Thursday that development restrictions in regional military facility protection zones across the country are set to be lifted from next Tuesday.
According to the Ministry of National Defense, 100.67 square kilometers of protected land nationwide, including controlled protection zones, restricted protection zones and no-flight zones ― equivalent to 34.7 times the size of Seoul's Yeouido ― will be released from development restrictions in accordance with the ministry's long-term plan of creating military facilities that can coexist with local communities.
The ministry said the amount of land freed from restrictions south of the metropolitan area is expected to increase by nearly 70 times from last year, with an 85.66 square kilometers no-flight zone set to be released around Gunsan, North Jeolla Province.
Also to be released are a controlled protection zone around South Chungcheong Province's Nonsan; and restricted protection areas including Incheon's Seo and Gyeyang districts; Gwangju; Gyeonggi Province's Gimpo, Paju, Goyang and Yangju; Gangwon Province's Hwacheon, Inje and Goseong; South Chungcheong Province's Taean; North Gyeongsang Province's Ulleung Island; and North Jeolla Province's Gunsan, which cover 14.92 square kilometers.
Aside from the abovementioned areas, 1.33 square kilometers in three more areas ― Gyeonggi Province's Paju, Gangwon Province's Cheorwon and South Chungcheong Province's Taean ― are expected to be changed from controlled protection areas to restricted protection areas, meaning that development restrictions will be eased so that construction of buildings up to a certain height will be allowed.