[강갑생의 바퀴와 날개] Gadeokdo New Airport, now the government’s time… “According to the principle of sata and yesta”

At a plenary session of the National Assembly on the 26th of last month, the’Special Bill for the Construction of Gadukdo New Airport’ is being passed with 181 people in favor and 33 abstentions. [연합뉴스]

The Gadeokdo New Airport Special Act, which passed the National Assembly amid controversy on the 26th of last month, has a clause that was included in the original draft but was completely omitted. These are the rules for simplifying the pre-feasibility study (sata). This is because the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said, “It is impossible to promote the project without determining the framework of the project.”

When the government or local government policy to implement a construction project is decided, it is a procedure before applying for a preliminary feasibility study (preliminary) ▶ Necessity of the project ▶ Risk factors for project implementation ▶ Location conditions of the project site ▶ Project size and construction cost ▶ Project environment Consider the impact on the person. It takes about a year.

After twists and turns, the National Assembly’s National Land, Infrastructure and Transport Commission bill removed the regulations for simplification of Sata and enforced Sata as a rule. During this process, it was revealed that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport turned a report containing the seven problems of Gadeokdo New Airport to the so-called committee members, which led to embarrassment. It is fortunate that Sata has survived, but the Gadeokdo New Airport Special Act is a legislative law that cannot be found in itself. It deserves criticism for getting votes for the Busan Mayor’s by-election in April and next year’s presidential election.

The real problem is in the future. It must be enforced as long as the special law has been passed. If legislation was the time of politics, execution was the time of the government. The beginning is the Sata that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will be in charge of. Since Sata is usually an investigation conducted by a project promotion agency, it is not uncommon for the policy to change as a result. The situation is different this time. This is because the difference between the plan proposed by Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam (Buulgyeong) and the sketch that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport thinks is so great. Boulkyung said it would spend 7.5 trillion won to build a 3,500m long runway and a passenger terminal. International flights will be divided into Gadeokdo Airport and domestic flights will be divided into Gimhae Airport.

A bird’s-eye view of Gadeokdo New Airport. [사진 부산시]

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is negative. The reasons are detailed in the report of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport submitted to the subcommittee of the bill. First of all, it is pointed out that the risk of aviation safety accidents is greatly increased due to the fact that Gadeokdo Airport overlaps Jinhae Airfield and the airspace and operates multiple times by dividing functions with Gimhae Airport, which complicates the control work. In addition, Gadeokdo Island was directly exposed to the open sea (a distant sea not surrounded by land), so construction was not easy due to the influence of currents and waves, so it took more than 6 years to reclamation by sea, and there is a possibility of differential subsidence when the underlying ground settles. There was also concern about damage to the ecological nature and marine ecosystem due to ocean reclamation through large-scale mountain harvesting.

The biggest difference is the operating cost. While Booulkyung suggested 7.5 trillion won, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport estimated that it would cost 12.8 trillion to 28 trillion won for each of the three scenarios. Even if an airport with one runway is built, the projected project cost is 12.800 trillion won, which is 5.2 trillion won more than the Booulkyung estimate. The scenario for accommodating both domestic and international flights with two runways was estimated at 1.58 trillion won, and the case of relocating to military facilities was estimated at 28.600 billion won.

The report from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport was not even produced after scrutiny. This is the reason why the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport stated in the report that “this content was estimated and prepared based on the proposed Busan plan, and needs to be reviewed for related services in the future.” The future related service mentioned here is Sata. If Sata is strictly performed by an objective external research institute, it will be determined which of the claims of Booul-gyeong and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is more valid.

That is why experts point out that you need to be careful with the sata first. Professor Park Dong-ju of the University of Seoul said, “The law was made without procedural justification, but the remaining decisions should be made reasonably,” and said, “The challenge is to make sure that there are no wasted budgets or technical defects by doing things objectively.” Hanyang University emeritus professor Gyeong-gyu Kang also demanded that “the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport should have the will and perform sata equivalent to that of yesterday.”

There are voices of concern about political and regional pressures in the process of sata. Hee-young Heo, a professor at Korea Aerospace University, pointed out that “only by thoroughly excluding external pressure and following the principles, we will be able to reduce side effects.” Ajou University professor Yoo Jeong-hoon said, “We must transparently disclose the process and results of Sata,” and said, “Since the risk factors of project promotion in Sata will be revealed in detail, we need to collect expert opinions on the results.”

After Sata, there is Yeta, which focuses on the economics of the project under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. There are criticisms that Yeta, which was introduced in 1999, is beneficial only to large cities and areas with large populations, but it is also receiving positive reviews for its role in suppressing reckless development projects. The special law made it possible for the Minister of Science and Technology to waive preliminary excuses’if deemed necessary’. However, in an opinion on the special law previously submitted to the National Assembly, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said, “It is necessary to verify the feasibility through a preliminary feasibility study after undergoing a preliminary feasibility review by the competent ministries to promote the new airport, such as the location of Gadeok Island and the new airport.” First of all, it is a negative position on the exemption from the pre-ta. Many experts agree that business feasibility should be accurately verified through Yeta.

It is the politicians’ responsibility to invent an unprecedented bill. However, the responsibility of finding and correcting problems in the implementation process is the responsibility of the government, that is, public officials. It is the way to fulfill our responsibilities to proceed with Sata and Yeta in principle. It is now in desperate need to look at the people, not the politics, and take responsibility for the people.

Gap-saeng Kang, traffic reporter

Gang Gabsaeng’s Wheels and Wings

Reporter Kang Gap-saeng