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Gadeok airport project faces delays, unlikely to open by 2029
A rendering of Gadeok airport in Busan / Courtesy of Busan Metropolitan City
By Ko Dong-hwan
Experts slam government’s outdated approach to timeline
The project to build a new airport on Busan’s Gadeok Island is likely to miss its 2029 completion date, as the government has decided to part ways with its preferred contractor.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on Thursday that it initiated the process of halting the negotiated contract procedures with Hyundai E&C, which had proposed a construction period of 108 months — two years longer than the originally required 84 months in the bidding conditions.
The consortium, led jointly by Daewoo E&C and POSCO E&C, requested the extended timeline after the ministry on April 28 asked for improvements to the basic design plan it had submitted. In response to the government’s target of completing the airport within 84 months, the consortium said it needed an additional 17 months to reinforce the site’s soft ground and seven more months for seawall construction.
After reviewing the request, the ministry decided to terminate its partnership with the consortium.
Experts argue that given the project's complexity, it is unlikely to be completed within the government's 2029 timeline.
An official from a major construction firm, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested that the government should abandon the original plan and begin discussions with private contractors to develop a new plan that ensures sufficient time for construction.
“The authorities should respect private firms’ opinions and decide whether to agree or not,” the official said.
“Otherwise, it will have to designate the project as a social overhead capital business funded entirely by the national coffer under approval by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.”
A government official from the Gadeok airport project task force briefs the press on a plan to build the airport, at Sejong Government Complex, March 13, 2023. Newsis
Experts from the local engineering and construction industry noted that the project is being built on soft ground, suggesting that it will be costly and require more than four years to complete.
“We’re seeing this project as a hard-level job. This will not be an easy project,” another official said.
The Incheon International Airport Corp., which oversees the country's largest airport — also built on reclaimed land next to Yeongjong Island on the west coast — declined to comment on the Gadeok airport project, citing insufficient data to assess its feasibility.
Lee Hee-seok, CEO of Gisan, a Seoul-based engineering and construction consulting firm, said that the project cannot be completed, even with the additional two years requested by the consortium. He attributed the challenges to the government's unreasonable planning and bureaucratic approach.
“The government 20 or 30 years ago pushed forward with various construction projects with tight schedules without taking into account actual conditions at the project sites. The authority blatantly demanded, ‘make it happen.’ Such an approach no longer works with today’s construction projects,” Lee said.
“There is the 52-hour workweek limit for laborers to consider, which limits the time for any construction project. Additionally, rising construction costs will be a burden for the builders. Considering that building an airport on dry ground takes at least seven to eight years, airport construction on a landfill will take even longer.”
"The government set an unrealistic opening schedule under the pretext of bidding for the 2030 Expo in Busan," Rep. Yeom Tae-young of the Democratic Party of Korea said Friday, "and even after the bid failed, it insisted on sticking to the original schedule, which led to the current disruption."
The ministry said it will stick to the consortium’s basic plan and the government’s original agenda for the project. It added it will discuss the project with professional consultants starting next week to ensure the safety and quality of the project, as well as a minimum period for its construction.