Politics, Special Law Proposal: Is the 'Dongnamgwon New Airport' Ultimately Gadeokdo?

[Asia Economy Reporter Inho Yoo] As the government is expected to officially announce the cancellation of the Gimhae New Airport development plan on the 17th, the procedure for selecting a new Southeast region new airport is also expected to be fully launched.

The Democratic Party has made it a fait accompli that the new airport will be located on Gadeokdo and has initiated the proposal of a special law to expedite the process.

However, it is widely anticipated that the subsequent selection process will be merely a formality. In particular, Gadeokdo was already evaluated as a "difficult place for development" in the feasibility study conducted four years ago for the Southeast region new airport selection, raising concerns in the industry that another 'political airport' might be created.

The Gimhae New Airport Verification Committee under the Prime Minister's Office will announce the verification results of the Gimhae New Airport at 2 p.m. at the Government Seoul Office Building. The committee, launched in December last year, is releasing the technical verification results on the suitability of Gimhae New Airport as the gateway airport for the Southeast region after 11 months.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

◆ Verification Committee says "It can be supplemented," but conclusion is cancellation? = Inside and outside the government and political circles, it is known that the Prime Minister's Office verification committee has concluded that "the Gimhae New Airport plan is difficult to serve as the gateway airport for the Southeast region."

The Gimhae New Airport plan, decided in June 2016, is being scrapped after about four years. At that time, the government deliberated between Busan's Gadeokdo and Gyeongnam's Miryang as the site for the Southeast region new airport and announced the Gimhae New Airport plan, which involved adding a runway to Gimhae Airport. Since then, in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam (PK), controversy arose that "the Gimhae Airport expansion plan cannot serve as a gateway airport."

Given this situation, the verification committee was formed under the Prime Minister's Office in December last year to verify 14 issues in four areas: safety, noise, environment, and facilities of the Gimhae New Airport plan.

The committee recognized the legal interpretation by the Ministry of Government Legislation that "consultation with Busan City is required for airport facility expansion," along with safety issues, and concluded that there were procedural flaws in the Gimhae New Airport plan.

It was judged that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's failure to consult with Busan City regarding cutting down mountains near the airport for the new runway construction was a procedural defect. Although the verification committee initially reached a provisional conclusion that there would be no problem as a gateway airport if safety issues were properly supplemented, the conclusion was overturned due to the legal interpretation.

◆ New airport candidate site is a foregone conclusion = There is speculation inside and outside the government and political circles that the construction of the Gadeokdo New Airport will be promptly pursued as a political logic for next year's Busan mayoral by-election.

In fact, the political circles have made the construction of the Gadeokdo New Airport a fait accompli. On this day, the Democratic Party held an "Emergency Countermeasure Meeting for Promoting the Southeast Region Gateway Airport" at 3:30 p.m., right after the announcement of the Gimhae New Airport feasibility verification results.

Presided over by Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon, the meeting is expected to discuss the proposal of a special law for the Gadeokdo New Airport. Kim Jeong-ho, co-head of the Southeast Region New Airport Promotion Planning Group and a Democratic Party lawmaker, held a "Press Conference on Gadeokdo New Airport" with Democratic Party members of the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee in the morning and said, "We are considering legislation of a special law to shorten the timeline and simplify procedures."

Earlier this month, Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon publicly expressed support for the Gadeokdo New Airport, saying, "I hope the government will look to the future and choose so that Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam can have a proper gateway airport."

Initially, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which insisted on principle during the re-verification controversy by saying, "If the Gimhae New Airport is dropped, the site selection process must start over," has now stepped back. Currently, it says, "We will decide after seeing the Prime Minister's Office's position announcement."

Prime Minister Chung is scheduled to preside over a meeting of related ministers at 3 p.m. on the same day, right after the verification committee's result announcement. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is expected to announce the government's position and future plans discussed at this meeting.

◆ Will another 'political airport' be born? = The Gadeokdo New Airport is likely to remain a source of controversy as a political decision ignoring economic logic.

The government and ruling party are immediately facing criticism for reversing a national project that has been dragged on for four years due to political interests related to next year's Busan mayoral by-election.

In fact, in the 'Yeongnam Region New Airport Candidate Site Evaluation Results' conducted by France's Paris Airport Engineering (ADPi) in 2016, the Gimhae Airport expansion plan was overwhelmingly ranked first.

Gadeokdo was rated the lowest, even behind Miryang. At that time, ADPi evaluated Gadeokdo as "not only costly but also difficult to construct" and "unsuitable as a natural airport site." Gadeokdo was also eliminated in the 2011 government Yeongnam Region New Airport site selection because its cost-benefit (B/C) ratio did not meet the project feasibility criterion of 1.0.

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, said, "It seems they are trying to force a change to gain any advantage ahead of next year's Busan mayoral by-election," and called for an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection.

An aviation industry expert said, "Even the Yeongnam Region gateway airport should not be swayed by elections," and added, "The government should look to the future and decide based on strict evaluation criteria."

Reporters Inho Yoo, Kwangho Lee, and Wondara sinryu007@

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