Busan Sea-Crossing Korea's Longest Offshore Cable Car Project Accelerates... Government to Verify Feasibility

Busan City, "Public debate only amplifies pros and cons, propose 'feasibility' first to Ministry of the Interior..." offers a clever solution

Conceptual diagram of the longest sea cable car in Korea connecting Haeundae, Busan and Igidae, Nam-gu.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] What is the status of the largest offshore cable car project in South Korea, being promoted as a private investment in Busan?

Busan City recently came up with a ‘clever solution’ for this long-stalled project, accelerating its progress.

The first step to determining the success of the offshore cable car project connecting Haeundae and Igidae in Nam-gu has moved from Busan City to the central government.

Busan City, which had classified this private investment project as a long-term stalled project, has decided to pause the public opinion gathering and deliberation process and shift the focus to a feasibility study.

Before public deliberation, they intend to have the project proposal verified by a specialized institution. Ultimately, the feasibility study results will hold the key to the project's success or failure.

On the 1st, Busan City announced that it is reviewing the application for feasibility verification of the Haeundae~Igidae offshore cable car project to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

Busan Mayor Park Hyung-joon expressed his determination in July to resolve the issue of the offshore cable car project, one of the long-term stalled tasks, within the year.

Considering opposition from Suyeong-gu and some civic groups, Busan held a ruling and opposition party-government council and concluded that it is better to conduct the feasibility verification first rather than immediately proceeding to public deliberation.

The plan is to secure grounds for project approval based on credible results on whether the offshore cable car project is feasible. Whether the feasibility study shows it is unfeasible or feasible, it will provide justification for the final decision.

Busan City plans to secure the budget and soon apply to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety for feasibility verification.

The verification will be conducted by the Korea Local Administration Research Institute (LIMAC), which reviews local investment projects based on the Local Finance Act.

The verification process will take several months, so the decision on whether to proceed with the project is expected to be made after mid-next year.

A Busan City official explained, “If the offshore cable car project is deliberated without supporting data, the debate will focus only on pros and cons, which could distort the essence of the project.”

He added, “It is desirable for Busan to entrust a specialized institution to conduct professional and in-depth reviews on various issues such as urban planning, transportation, and environment beforehand.”

If the LIMAC verification finds the project feasible, the process will proceed with public deliberation, government investment eligibility review, and related department permits. If found unfeasible, the project will effectively be scrapped.

An official from the implementing company said, “Every project will have supporters and opponents, but we agree to have the project evaluated by an objective and credible institution.”

The implementing company, Busan Blue Coast Co., Ltd., was established when the local construction company IS Dongseo entered the offshore cable car business. ‘Blue Coast’ is promoting a 4.2 km offshore cable car connecting Dongbaek Amusement Park in U-dong, Haeundae-gu, and Igidae Park in Yongho-dong, Nam-gu.

This is the longest offshore cable car route in South Korea, 1 km longer than the 3.2 km Mokpo offshore cable car, and a grand project with a total investment of 609.1 billion KRW.

The plan is to transform it into a landmark of Busan tourism following the Gwangandaegyo Bridge, attracting visitors from around the world.

Busan Blue Coast submitted its first proposal to Busan City in 2016 but was rejected due to environmental and traffic concerns. Since then, in May of this year, they prepared various supplementary measures addressing parking difficulties, environmental damage, and social contribution plans, and resubmitted the proposal, marking the start of active project promotion.

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