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| President Moon Jae-in listens to a report from Acting Busan Mayor Lee Byung-Jin about a plan to build a new international airport on Busan's Gadeok Island, during his inspection of the site, Thursday. Yonhap |
President visits planned site for airport to support project
By Jun Ji-hye
Both the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) are facing criticism for collaborating in the hasty passage of a special bill aimed at constructing a new international airport on Busan's Gadeok Island.
If the bill is passed at a National Assembly plenary session scheduled for Friday, it would open the way for the construction ― which would require trillions of won ― to proceed without a feasibility study.
The bill also calls for the new airport to be built at government expense.
Critics said the parties are pushing ahead with the large-scale national project without a sufficient review and apparently based on populism to woo voters ahead of the April 7 mayoral by-elections that include one in the port city, as well as the presidential election slated for March 2022.
A feasibility study is supposed to be conducted for any state infrastructure project that costs 50 billion won ($45 million) or more, including at least 30 billion won from state coffers.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance that is in charge of such feasibility studies stated in its report submitted to the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, "A feasibility study is a process to see if a project is economically viable in order not to waste taxpayers' money. Thus, such a study is necessary."
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has also expressed its opposition to the new airport project.
In a report submitted by the land ministry to the Assembly committee, the ministry brought up safety and environmental problems, as the new airport that will be built on the island requires large-scale land reclamation from the sea.
"In addition, there are great dangers of aviation accidents due to complicated air traffic control with nearby Gimhae International Airport and Jinhae Airport," the ministry said in the report.
To develop the new airport into a "gateway to the southeastern part of Korea," as claimed by the DPK, the construction would require up to 28.7 trillion won, the ministry added. This is in stark contrast to the 7.5 trillion won calculated by the Busan Metropolitan Government.
The ministry even added, "If we don't oppose the new airport plan despite being aware of procedural problems, this would amount to dereliction of duty."
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| A computer-generated image of a new airport on Busan's Gadeok Island / Korea Times file |
"A new airport on Gadeok Island will enable this region to be connected by the air around the clock, and jump to become a global logistics hub, together with the routes by sea and on land," Moon said during his visit. "The political circle is joining forces to pass the special bill. I promise the government will implement the relevant procedures promptly once the bill is passed."
His visit, however, was denounced by the opposition for showing residents in the region that the President was paying attention to the airport construction plan, which they viewed as an "apparent move to buy votes" and "interference in the election."
The new airport project has drawn criticism from some lawmakers as well, including Rep. Cho Eung-cheon of the DPK.
"Nobody knows the details about the new airport such as how long its runway will be," Cho said. "A feasibility study is supposed to decide those details. Exempting it from one is illogical, especially when a very difficult construction is planned to build an airport on the sea."
Kim Sang-hwan, a professor at the department of civil engineering at Hoseo University, said the new airport on Gadeok Island would repeat the same problems of Japan's Kansai International Airport.
"There is greater possibility of the new airport to experience land subsidence and the collapse of facilities due to tsunamis, as Kansai International Airport has seen," he said.
The two parties' push for the project is also leading other lawmakers to ask for another special bill to build a new airport at government expense in their constituencies including Daegu.
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| Environmental activities hold a news conference in front of the National Assembly, Seoul, Thursday, calling for a special bill to build a new international airport on Busan's Gadeok Island to be voted down as the Assembly is scheduled to put the bill to a vote Friday. Yonhap |
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