Controversy over the operation of the auto camping site at Yuldong Park in Seongnam City, special envoy ‘violation of the Tourism Promotion Act’ vs. city ‘legal facility under the Park and Green Space Act’

Special envoy "violation of the Tourism Promotion Act" vs. city "legitimate facility under the Park and Green Space Act" tension

(Seongnam = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Woo-seong = Controversy is brewing as Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, is under investigation for allegedly operating the Bundang Yuldong Park auto camping site in an unregistered state and exceeding the standard area, and is pushing for a change in the use of the site.

According to Seongnam City on the 4th, the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police Unit has been investigating city officials since the end of June on charges of operating an unregistered auto camping site in the conservation green area in Yuldong Park (violation of the Tourism Promotion Act).

The provincial special envoy's position is that even if it is a park facility, any place that provides camping convenience must register as a camping ground business in accordance with the Tourism Promotion Act. In particular, the Yuldong Park camping site is considered illegal because its total area (about 23,000 m2) exceeds the campground limit (less than 10,000 m2) within the conservation green area.

In this situation, when the city began administrative procedures to change the use of the site to a natural green area where camping business registration is possible without area restrictions, some in the region raised criticism that it was an attempt at 'post facto legalization' to eliminate any illegality during the investigation.

The city refuted this, saying it resulted from differences in interpretation of applicable laws.

The city said, "Yuldong Camping Site is a park facility installed after approval of the park creation plan and implementation plan in accordance with the Park and Green Space Act," and added, "There is no stipulated regulation as to whether the area standard under the Tourism Promotion Act should be applied to the campsite in the park, which has been decided as an urban planning facility, so we requested an authoritative interpretation from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism last July."

Regarding the push to change the use area, he explained, "It is only a preliminary administrative procedure to resolve uncertainty between laws and establish an institutional foundation for strengthening insurance coverage, etc., and there is no intention to avoid the investigation."

This camping site, built around 124-2 Yuldong, Bundang-gu, has an area of ​​about 23,000 m2 and has been in operation since June of last year, with 96 camping areas, a management building, kitchen, forest playground, and dog playground.