Bian-Sobo area to host new Daegu airport

Officials count ballots at Gunwi County, North Gyeongsang Province, Tuesday, after a referendum to select a final candidate to host the new Daegu airport. / Yonhap

By Jun Ji-hye

The Bian-Sobo area in North Gyeongsang Province has been selected as a final candidate to host the new Daegu airport that will be used both as a military airfield and a civilian airport, according to the provincial election commission Wednesday.

The decision was made through a referendum the previous day, in which the Bian-Sobo and the Ubo areas were competing.

Both candidate sites are in rural regions just north of Daegu.

The election commission said Bian-Sobo garnered 89.52 points to Ubo's 78.44 ― the points were tallied by reflecting turnout and votes in favor of each area.

In March 2018, the Ministry of National Defense chose the Bian-Sobo area and the Ubo area as candidate sites to host the new airport.

Daegu Airport, known as the K2 Base, has been home to the Republic of Korea Air Force 11th Fighter Wing since 1958, with its main workforce of F-15K fighter jets.

The facility has been used both as a military airfield and a civilian airport since 1961.

Residents there have long complained about the noise and other inconveniences stemming from the Air Force base, which led the government to decide to relocate it to a new site in 2016.

While the project has been slow moving due to budget concerns and differing interests, the plan is expected to suffer another setback even after the referendum as Gunwi County, which has jurisdiction over Ubo, signaled it would not accept the result of the vote.

Gunwi County head Kim Yong-man said in a statement, “Regardless of the results of the referendum, Gunwi County will continue to work to get Ubo to host the airport.”

Regarding the issue, North Gyeongsang Province Governor Lee Cheol-woo said, “We will try to push the plan ahead ahead smoothly.”