The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) invoked last February an exception to the total release limitation of greenbelt lands to promote development projects in certain regions. This followed President Yoon Suk-yeol’s vow to ease greenbelt regulations in his 13th Policy Discussion with Citizens last year. 15 greenbelt areas covering a total of 42km2, including regions in Busan City and Ulsan City, were selected as non-capital national and regional strategic projects. Such a significant easing of restrictions had not happened in the last 17 years, since the Lee Myung-bak administration in 2008. According to MOLIT, the 15 areas were selected amongst 33 business proposals based on their feasibility and economic growth potential. Starting in 2026, extensive greenbelt land release and development will take place, which is expected to have an economic impact of \124.5 trillion and foster job creation. To prevent such areas from real estate speculation, the government announced plans to designate them as land transaction permission zones. The total area selected for development is equivalent to the size of 5,900 football fields, of which 74% fall within the first and second-level environmental assessment grades, meaning that in principle, they are prohibited from being developed. Since the selected regions have been made available for development regardless of the total release limit, some environmental organizations expressed concerns, criticizing the unsystematic use of the protected areas.