"President and Prime Minister Must Keep Promise of 'Southeast Gateway Airport'"

Southeast Gateway Airport Promotion Committee Calls Gimhae Airport Expansion Plan a Stopgap... Issues Public Appeal Ahead of Prime Minister's Office Reverification Announcement

Members of civil society organizations, including the Dongnam Region Gateway Airport Promotion Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam Civic Movement Headquarters, held a press conference on May 19 at the briefing room of the Busan Metropolitan Council, urging the president to make a decision regarding the Dongnam Region Gateway Airport. [Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] “We earnestly appeal, carrying the hopes of 8 million residents of Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam, so that the president’s pledge that ‘the Southeast Gateway Airport should lead the prosperity of the Republic of Korea and be able to replace Incheon Airport in emergencies’ and the prime minister’s promise that ‘the Southeast New Airport must be promoted, and its proper location is Gadeokdo’ can be fulfilled.”

The Southeast Gateway Airport Promotion Committee (Standing Co-Chairman Heo Yong-do), which hopes for the construction of a new airport rather than the expansion of Gimhae Airport, issued a public appeal on the 7th ahead of the announcement of the Prime Minister’s Office verification results, expressing the public’s desire for the construction of the Southeast Gateway Airport.

Through the appeal, the committee demanded the construction of a proper Southeast Gateway Airport, stating that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Gimhae Airport expansion plan currently under verification by the Prime Minister’s Office is unsuitable as a gateway airport in every aspect.

They argued that although the Southeast economy, including Busan, has suffered difficulties for years due to the downturn in key industries such as shipbuilding, automobiles, and steel, and is currently facing hardships due to the COVID-19 situation, efforts to build a proper Southeast Gateway Airport to open the future of Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam must not be halted.

The committee emphasized the validity of the ‘gateway airport,’ stating, “It will transform the manufacturing belt of the Southeast into a high-tech industry and, in connection with Busan New Port, will lead the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam region to become a Northeast Asia complex logistics hub.”

They also said, “Its geographical advantages are significant, allowing it to encompass logistics and industries of western Japan within a wide economic zone, thus giving wings to the government’s key projects such as the New Southern and New Northern policies.”

They requested, “Since the Gimhae Airport expansion plan proposed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has been revealed in several prior verifications to be inappropriate for playing the role of a gateway airport in major areas such as safety, noise, environment, and demand, the verification committee should faithfully perform its original role of technical verification only.”

They clearly pointed out that “if the verification committee produces results such as proposing separate supplementary measures, it would be an act of ignoring the aspirations of the Southeast residents,” and that the government should not irresponsibly delegate policy decision-making authority to the verification committee.

Furthermore, they strongly urged, “The construction of the Southeast Gateway Airport should be the result of social consensus agreed upon by local residents based on technical verification. Since former Prime Minister Jeong Sye-kyun also expressed the opinion that the Southeast New Airport should be built in Gadeokdo, the government must derive thorough verification results regarding the Gimhae Airport expansion plan, which is merely a regional and political stopgap measure, and make a grand policy decision reflecting the hopes of local residents so that the president’s pledge can be fulfilled.”

Heo Yong-do, Standing Co-Chairman of the Promotion Committee, said, “For the continuous development of the national economy, fostering an economic zone that can balance with the metropolitan area is essential, and since the Southeast region is the only such area in the country, the existence of a proper gateway airport is indispensable for the takeoff of the Southeast economic zone.”

Chairman Heo added, “This is the last chance to correct a wrongly fastened button for the century-long future of the Southeast region,” emphasizing that “residents of Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam have high expectations for the president’s policy will regarding a proper Southeast Gateway Airport.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.