In Seoul, a dispute over the fate of public green space has grown into something larger than urban planning — it has become a contest over who holds the authority to shape a city of ten million people. The mayor and the president, each commanding distinct but overlapping powers, have turned a technical question about land use into a visible struggle between local and national governance. At stake is not only the character of Seoul's parks and open spaces, but the precedent that will govern how such decisions are made across South Korea for years to come.