Yoon: "I will exempt Gadeokdo New Airport from preliminary feasibility study"... Democratic Party: "Don't you even know the law passed last year?"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, promised to exempt the preliminary feasibility study (PFS) for the Gadeokdo New Airport as part of his presidential campaign pledges in the Busan area. Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, responded by saying, "The PFS has already been exempted."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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On the 16th, Lee posted on social networking services (SNS) an article introducing Yoon’s Busan campaign announcement from the previous day, stating, "It is Candidate Yoon who is dividing the youth, and the Gadeokdo New Airport has already been exempted from the PFS."

Earlier, Song Young-gil, the leader of the Democratic Party, also said on SNS, "Yesterday (the 15th), Candidate Yoon Seok-yeol said in Busan that he would 'boldly exempt the preliminary feasibility study for the Gadeokdo New Airport.' But what can we do? The special law exempting the PFS for the Gadeokdo New Airport already passed the National Assembly last year."

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Doo-kwan also criticized, "The People Power Party, who used to ask presidential candidates to just delay as instructed, now can’t even get the script right, which is really a big problem." He pointed out, "The Gadeokdo New Airport Act already includes a provision exempting the PFS, which anyone with even a little interest in Gadeokdo would know immediately." He added, "At this point, both the actors and the script are problematic, so I hope you deeply reconsider whether you need to bring back scriptwriter Kim Jong-in."

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Earlier, Candidate Yoon stated at the Victory Resolution Rally of the Election Countermeasures Committee held at the Busan City Party Headquarters, "If we are going to start the Gadeokdo New Airport anyway, we will boldly exempt the PFS."

However, Article 7 of the "Special Act for the Construction of Gadeokdo New Airport," which passed the National Assembly in February last year, includes provisions allowing the Minister of Strategy and Finance and others to exempt the PFS.