Won Hee-ryong "Independent Decision to Cancel Highway... Asking Yangpyeong Residents to Please Bear With It a Little"

Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, CBS Radio Interview
"Democratic Party's False Agitation Frame... Unfeasible to Proceed"

Regarding the 'Kim Geon-hee family preferential treatment allegations,' Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, who declared the complete cancellation of the Seoul-Yangpyeong Expressway project, stated that he made an independent decision and "made the decision after agonizing, fully prepared to take responsibility for personnel authority."

Minister Won appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on the 7th and said, "The Democratic Party will continue to pick on Kim Geon-hee during my term, and under such circumstances, I absolutely cannot proceed."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding the criticism that the route was changed after the preliminary feasibility study (PFS), he said, "The PFS was presented in April 2021 with a plan passing through Yangseo-myeon. However, just a month later, in May 2021, the then Democratic Party Yangpyeong County Governor and the Democratic Party local committee chairman held a party-government consultation and opposed the PFS plan, questioning whether it was acceptable for Yangpyeong to have no interchange (IC), that is, no access ramp. They declared they would strive to install the Gangha IC and move the central government."

He continued, "(They) said this was a party-government consultation for the residents of Yangpyeong to fulfill their long-cherished project and self-assessed that they would take responsibility as the ruling party. However, if the Gangha IC is installed, the next issue is the currently problematic intersection," he explained.

Minister Won said, "The plan to install the Gangha IC is no different from the current problematic plan proposed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for environmental impact assessment and the plan that the Democratic Party called an effort for the local residents' long-standing project. There is no other route," he said.

He added, "The only change is that their (Democratic Party's) county governor lost, and the ruling party's (county governor) took office. When they do it, it is a long-cherished project for the residents, but when the People Power Party's county governor and member of the National Assembly request the installation of an interchange and submit it as one of two options for review, calling it preferential treatment for Kim Geon-hee or a double standard is a false, provocative frame," he criticized.

Furthermore, he said, "Rather than having the public suffer from suspicions until the end of my term, it is better for the country and our people that I take responsibility now and cut ties on this matter. I apologize to the residents of Yangpyeong County and ask for a little patience," he said.

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