Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam Economic Sectors Jointly Urge Construction of ‘Gadeok New Airport’

Delay in Verifying Gimhae Airport Expansion Plan Causes Missed Golden Time
For the First Time, Gadeokdo New Airport Officially Announced for Southeast Region's Future
Gadeok New Airport to Lead as Northeast Asia's Integrated Logistics Hub

The dream of a gateway airport drawn on the rice fields of Gangseo, Busan. The Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam economic community proposed the construction of Gadeok New Airport as a proper gateway airport.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] The economic sectors of Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam strongly urged the government to cancel the Gimhae Airport expansion plan by proposing 'Gadeokdo' as the site for the new Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (Bu-Ul-Gyeong) airport.

The Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Chairman Heo Yong-do) on the 26th, together with the Ulsan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Chairman Jeon Young-do) and the Gyeongsangnam-do Chamber of Commerce and Industry Council (Chairman Han Cheol-soo), issued a joint statement calling for the cancellation of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Gimhae Airport expansion plan and the construction of the Gadeok New Airport.

The joint statement was prepared to clearly convey the position of the regional economic sectors amid delays in the Prime Minister's Office's announcement of verification results, following the Bu-Ul-Gyeong economic sectors' statement on July 22 urging the prompt construction of the Bu-Ul-Gyeong new airport.

In the joint statement, the Bu-Ul-Gyeong economic sectors argued that, contrary to initial expectations, much time has been delayed at the final verification stage due to the Ministry of Land's unreasonable submission of revised plans, and to avoid missing the golden time for the future of the southeastern region, the Prime Minister's Office should review and announce the improvement plan for Gadeok New Airport together with the verification results.

They emphasized that the Gimhae Airport expansion plan has already revealed many problems in terms of safety, noise, expandability, and economic feasibility, and through thorough verification by experts in various fields, the Gadeok New Airport construction plan prepared by Bu-Ul-Gyeong is the optimal alternative.

Business leaders diagnosed that Gimhae Airport currently faces structural and inherent limitations as an urban airport and clearly stated their opposition to the expansion plan.

Gadeok New Airport, as a maritime airport, can operate safely 24 hours a day, and is expected to contribute greatly to fostering small and medium-sized enterprises by advancing existing industries, attracting new growth industries such as IT and bio, and creating a large-scale specialized air cargo complex, as well as significantly increasing transshipment cargo.

Furthermore, they claimed that in the long term, Gadeok New Airport will elevate Bu-Ul-Gyeong into a Northeast Asia complex logistics hub by linking Busan New Port and the Eurasian railway in preparation for the new northern opening era.

Heo Yong-do, chairman of the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, "It is very regrettable that the announcement of the results is delayed when it has been revealed through experts and the media that the Gimhae Airport expansion plan is inappropriate in many ways."

Chairman Heo reiterated, "Since we cannot miss the golden time for building a gateway airport for the southeastern region's century-long future, we request that the Prime Minister's Office announce the review results of the Gadeok New Airport improvement plan, which Bu-Ul-Gyeong is jointly proposing, together with the final verification results to reduce unnecessary site selection procedures after the cancellation of the Gimhae Airport expansion plan."

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