Muan-gun Faces Comprehensive Issues in Fishermen's New Deal 300 Project... Suspicions of Poor Construction at Unnam Yeonghae Port

Problems Occur at Jogeumnaru Dock Following Sinwol Port

Criticism of Korea Fisheries Infrastructure Public Corporation's Inadequate Work Performance

The Saemangeum New Town 300 project promoted by Muan-gun, Jeollanam-do, is becoming controversial due to repeated mistakes and suspicions of poor construction.

According to Muan-gun on the 20th, the project was entrusted by Muan-gun to the Korea Fisheries Infrastructure Public Corporation in 2020, with a budget of about 5.6 billion KRW aimed at improving residential conditions. Construction work such as extending the breakwater and installing shelter facilities is underway around Yeonghae Port in Dongam-ri, Unnam-myeon, and is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.

The problem is that the crucial foundational work supporting structures in some parts of the construction, such as the breakwater extension, has been pointed out as being poorly executed.

On-site inspection revealed that cement was applied over piles of stones, and some piles were buried in sand, rendering them nonfunctional.

Cement has been applied over the structure on the pile of stones.
Photo by Oh Hwanju

As a result, concerns about wasteful spending of taxpayers' money on the Saemangeum New Town 300 project have arisen, along with claims that the indifferent attitude of the local county office has exacerbated the poor construction.

Kim, a representative running a construction company in Muan, said, "Looking at the site photos, it clearly appears to be poor construction," adding, "Even the spacing of the deck boards was poorly done, so I doubt whether other structures were properly constructed."

Earlier, the Unnam Sinwol Port, which underwent maintenance in 2021 with a budget of 5 billion KRW under the Saemangeum New Town 300 project, became more dangerous than before the maintenance, causing steel boats to refuse docking, significantly increasing the risk of accidents for vehicles and users.

Following Sinwol Port, problems also occurred at Jogeumnaru Wharf, raising questions about the competency of the Korea Fisheries Infrastructure Public Corporation entrusted with the project.

A Muan-gun official explained the suspicions of poor construction by saying, "Since the construction is a commissioned project, the county has nothing to do with it."

Muan = Oh Hwan-joo, Honam Reporting Headquarters, Asia Economy just8440@asiae.co.kr

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