Lee Jun-seok "If Gimpo City is incorporated into Seoul, extension of lines 5 and 9 will become difficult"

"Local Governments Face Increased Burden in Subway Extension Projects"

Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok pointed out that the party's push for 'incorporating Gimpo City, Gyeonggi Province into Seoul' would financially worsen the urban railway extension project. He argued that the burden on local governments for extending Seoul Subway Lines 5 and 9, a long-cherished project for Gimpo citizens, would increase.

On the 1st, Lee said on Facebook, "If Lines 5 or 9 are extended to Gimpo, and Gimpo is incorporated into Seoul, it would be considered a general urban railway, so the national government would cover 40% and the local government 60% of the costs," adding, "However, since there is no standard for average running speed (which includes stop times), stations can be placed more densely."

He continued, "If Gimpo remains a separate local government, the extension would be recognized as a metropolitan railway, with the national government covering 70% and the local government 30%," and added, "However, stations must be spaced out properly, like on the Jinjeop Line, to meet the average running speed standards."

Lee said, "Various loopholes or special laws to avoid this can be considered, but after all that, the route or alignment will not be what the citizens of Gimpo desire," and added, "The same applies if Line 9 is extended to Namyangju or if any part of Gyeonggi Province is incorporated."

He argued that since metropolitan railway projects have a national-to-local funding ratio of 7 to 3, but urban railway projects in Seoul have a ratio of 4 to 6, the burden on local governments would increase.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee also criticized the incorporation of Gimpo into Seoul on CBS radio that morning. He said, "While it might feel good to be part of Seoul, the urban railway extension projects necessary for their daily lives will become financially more difficult," and pointed out, "Currently, even the Line 5 extension project is routed through Geomdan to Gimpo to meet BC standards. But such arrangements could become risky."

He added, "The moment Gimpo is incorporated into Seoul, the momentum to push such projects will greatly diminish, and the People Power Party would not have proposed this without knowing that."

Lee said, "Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon would be baffled," and added, "Seoul is likely following a master plan for transportation policies, but if suddenly Seoul has to bear all the costs for Gimpo's transportation infrastructure, what are they supposed to do?"

He also said, "From Seoul's perspective, there will be issues where subway extensions toward Hanam City in Gyeonggi Province, which should be funded by the national government, will have to be funded by the city," adding, "There is currently high demand for light rail and subways within Seoul, but they cannot fully address it now."

However, the People Power Party expects the incorporation into Seoul to be a solution to transportation problems. Hong Cheol-ho, the People Power Party's Gimpo-eul district committee chairman, appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' that day and explained, "There is an expected benefit of securing Lines 5 and 9 in Gimpo without spending a large amount of money," adding, "Since both lines use the same rail gauge, they can share the train depot."

Hong said, "The government announced the introduction of Line 5 as a transportation means for compact cities. So the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Metropolitan Transport Committee only needs to draw the route, but there is a delay due to disagreements with Incheon City," and added, "Since we agreed to take over the Line 5 train depot in Gimpo, for example, places like Tongjin-eup in Gimpo can also use it together."

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