Minister Byeon Chang-heum: "If the Special Act for Gadeokdo New Airport Passes, It Will Be Executed"

Gadeokdo New Airport Special Act Passed at Full Meeting of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee on the 19th

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Byeon Chang-heum is attending the full meeting of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee held at the National Assembly on the 3rd, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] Byeon Chang-heum, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said regarding the Gadeokdo New Airport Special Act, which includes exemptions from preliminary feasibility studies, "If the National Assembly reaches a consensus and passes the special law, we will implement it."

According to the National Assembly and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 20th, Minister Byeon appeared at the full meeting of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee on the 19th and responded to Justice Party lawmaker Shim Sang-jung's question about support or opposition to the Gadeokdo New Airport Special Act by stating, "This is not a matter of support or opposition to the Gadeokdo New Airport."

In response to Shim's question, "The site is supposed to be determined by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport through procedures, but is there any precedent where the procedure was skipped and the site was decided?" Minister Byeon said, "This case is exceptional," and added, "I do not know if there is such a precedent."

However, he added, "Regarding the Gadeokdo issue, we also raised concerns about location, safety, and environmental aspects during the review process," and "I understand that the National Assembly made its judgment considering the review."

Minister Byeon also mentioned that in the case of the Gadeokdo New Airport, there were issues raised by the Air Force and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries regarding aviation safety problems due to overlapping airspace and problems related to marine reclamation. Nevertheless, he emphasized that the judgment on the airport development strategy is important in the promotion of the Gadeokdo New Airport project.

Minister Byeon explained, "It is necessary to determine whether the Gadeokdo Airport is a general airport or a special airport," and added, "Will it develop as a single hub airport like Yeongjongdo, or will it be developed as an airport to respond to that? Since it is a special airport, I believe a system foundation was established to handle it specially and swiftly."

The Gadeokdo New Airport Special Act passed the full meeting of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee on the same day. This bill aims to accelerate the promotion of the Gadeokdo New Airport project by exempting preliminary feasibility studies when necessary and simplifying pre-feasibility studies.

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