Incheon’s Yeonsu District installed a fixed fence along the Seunggi Stream park golf course boundary even though it should have been movable, and then carried out follow-up work—prompting criticism that the move wasted administrative resources and public funds.
On the 12th, Yeonsu District said it has been operating a nine‑hole park golf course along Seunggi Stream on a trial basis since the 1st of last month.
The district plans to officially open the course after the trial ends in late June. The project cost a total of about 600 million KRW (approximately $450,000), and fence installation accounted for about 45 million KRW (approximately $33,750).
The controversy centers on a fence installed along roughly a 1 km stretch around the course. The structure consists of mesh stretched between metal posts, intended to prevent golf balls from entering the adjacent walking path.
Seunggi Stream runs through both Namdong and Yeonsu districts, but more than 90% of it lies in Namdong, so Namdong handles legal matters such as river‑use permits.
Last year, Namdong asked Yeonsu to produce a maintenance plan, warning that because Seunggi Stream acts as a runoff channel during the rainy season, floating debris could catch on safety fences and obstruct water flow.
Yeonsu responded that it would install movable (removable) fixtures, including the fence, so crews could dismantle them depending on water levels.
But after inspecting the completed site, Namdong concluded the fence was fixed and issued a corrective order to Yeonsu on the 9th of last month.
On site, posts taller than 1 meter were embedded in concrete footings and bolted tightly.
Yeonsu plans to install a rolling gate device that reels the mesh up on pulleys between the 12th and 19th, at an estimated cost of about 13 million KRW (approximately $9,750). The district says the work is not a response to the corrective order.
A district official said, “Although the posts are fixed, the mesh can be removed, so we did not violate occupancy conditions. We are carrying out the retrofit at the request of facility staff, who are elderly and find the work difficult, and it is unrelated to the corrective order.”
But firms that specialize in designing and building park golf courses told reporters the fence is not appropriate for a river setting.
An industry source explained, “River authorities generally won’t permit installing concrete footings in a river for safety reasons, so builders usually set posts without footings or install movable systems. Movable setups are also less expensive than fixed systems that require concrete footings.” He added, “Park golf fences are typically about 1.5 meters high, so adding pulleys to a fixed fence would be ineffective. Rolling gate devices are generally used only for large sports facilities like soccer stadiums.”
/ Reporter Inara nara@incheonilbo.com
