“I have to make the sound of cheating in Chungnam-do”

“The Gadeokdo (Airport) Special Law has passed the National Assembly. Someone in Chungnam is saying a word because I think they should be cheating.”

This is part of an article posted on his SNS (Facebook) by Mayor Maeng Jeong-ho of Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do on the 27th of last month. Mayor Maeng publicly revealed his feelings the next day after the’Gadeokdo New Airport Special Law’ passed the plenary session at the National Assembly on the 26th of last month.

He said, “Is 50 billion won in the construction cost of Seosan civil port? “Is it because Chungnam’s political power is lacking?” He also criticized the sadness of the political power of the Chungcheong region, which was relatively weak compared to Yeong-Honam.

Mayor Maeng Jeong-ho said in a phone call with the JoongAng Ilbo, “I naturally agree with the construction of a new airport in Gaduk Island. However, he said that he raised the question of the construction of Seosan civil port, which is a long-awaited project in Chungnam, and emphasized that the civil port of Seosan must be promoted in terms of balanced regional development.

Chungnam has been promoting the construction of a private airport in the mid to long term for regional development. It has also been emphasized that there is no airport among the nationwide metropolitan local governments. The location of the airport is the Seosan Air Force 20th Fighter Wing (Seosan Airfield), which uses an airfield with the Air Force, such as Cheongju International Airport.

The area of ​​Seosan Airfield is 11.9㎢, which is larger than Gimpo International Airport (7.3㎢). It has two runways 2743m long and 46m wide. This facility is capable of taking off and landing medium-sized A300 and B767 class (200 seats) aircraft.

The need for a private airport construction project has been steadily raised since 2002. However, it could not be promoted because of its low economic feasibility. In 2012, when the Chungnam Provincial Office moved to Naepo New Town (Hongseong/Yesan), a full-scale discussion took place. In July 2014, Chungnam-do and Seosan-si formed a task port (TF) team related to attracting civilian ports.

At a discussion session on the construction of a civil port in Seosan, Professor Seon-ha Lee (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering) of Gongju National University said, “As the industrial complexes and tourist/leisure population rapidly increased, the west coast of Chungnam has emerged as an economic center.” “Using the Gun Airfield saves enormous construction costs. I can do it.”

The civil port project in Seosan, which was listed in the preliminary feasibility study by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport last year, was eliminated from the deliberation by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. Accordingly, the basic plan service cost (1.5 billion won) was not reflected in the government budget.

On the other hand, Saemangeum New Airport (12 billion won), Heuksan Island New Airport (6.8 billion won), and Ulleungdo New Airport (80 billion won) were all reflected in the government budget. Seosan civil port construction project cost (59.5 billion won) is only 0.067% compared to the construction cost of Gadeokdo new airport of 7.5 trillion won (estimated by Busan city).

On the other hand, the Gadeok New Airport Special Act, which has passed the National Assembly plenary session, exempts the preliminary feasibility study for the prompt promotion of the project. The pre-feasibility study can also be simplified, but it should proceed in principle. Environmental impact assessment is not exempt.

Seosan Mayor Maeng Jeong-ho said, “I don’t want any special laws. Please select it as a target project. If you don’t want to do it, I will reduce the project cost to less than 50 billion won.”

Meanwhile, a public opinion poll found that a majority of the people assessed the passage of the National Assembly of the New Airport Special Act as wrong. As a result of a survey of 500 men and women aged 18 and over nationwide on the 26th of last month by Real Meter commissioned by YTN, 53.6% of the respondents answered that it was’wrong’. Only 33.9% of respondents said’good job’.

The sample error of this survey is ±4.4% at a 95% confidence level. For more information, refer to the Real Meter website or the Central Election Survey Deliberation Committee.

Seosan = Reporter Shin Jinho [email protected]