Up to 28 trillion won in construction cost for Gaduk New Airport?… Busan city refutes “obvious lies

The city of Busan criticized the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s report that it would cost up to 28 trillion won to build a new airport on Gadeok Island.

The city of Busan distributed data to the media on the 25th to refute the claims of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport in relation to the enactment of the Special Act on the New Airport on Gadeok Island. The 10-page data points out in detail the contents of the report from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which pointed out 7 items: Gadeokdo new airport related project costs (economics), safety, construction, operation, environment, accessibility, and air demand. The report from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in question was recently submitted to the National Assembly’s National Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, and its contents were reported in the media.

In the report, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said,’If two runways are built and the domestic and international flights and military facilities are relocated at Gimhae Airport, the total project cost will be 28.600 billion won.’ In response, the city of Busan refuted, saying, “It costs 740 trillion won to build an international airport with one runway (3.5 km) on Gadeok Island.” Busan City’s position is that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has inflated project costs, including the construction of two runways and the cost of relocating domestic flights and military airports that are not subject to relocation.

Busan City said, “Gimhae Airport’s military facility is a strategic military base for the transport of US troops’ strategic materials, so relocation of military airports is not possible, and even if the military airport is relocated, the project operator donates alternative facilities, and the site owner transfers the discarded property. “If you move to’transfer of donation loans’, you do not have to put in government expenses.” In the case of moving military facilities at Gimhae Airport, which is used by the civilian and air force, it is argued that there is no cost of relocation if a private business operator obtains profits by developing Gimhae Airport instead of providing the Gimhae Airport site to the Ministry of Defense, like Daegu-Gyeongbuk Unified New Airport.

In addition, the city of Busan also refuted the argument of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport that’the project cost of Busan city was 5.7 trillion won, and the airport construction cost such as the apron and terminal and the access transportation network project cost were 5,220 billion won.’ The Busan City side said, “The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport did not consider the Busan city’s recent plan to reduce the sea reclamation area from 75% to 43% in order to reduce the cost, and within the 7.6 trillion won proposed by the city, airport construction costs such as aprons and terminals, and access transportation networks (railway 6km, etc.) and costs are included.”

In addition, Busan City explained, “There are no missing costs because the project cost estimation method of the Gimhae New Airport Basic Plan for expanding Gimhae Airport was applied to the project cost estimate.”

The city of Busan also said, “In 2011, the construction of one runway cost 7.8 trillion won and 9.8 trillion won when constructing two runways, and the Paris Airport Industrial Complex Engineering (ADPi) commissioned by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in 2016 was also a runway. It was estimated that it would cost 7.47 trillion won for one and 1,022 trillion won for two.”

An official from Busan City said, “In the past government service, it was possible to construct two runways of Gaduk New Airport with a maximum of 10 trillion won. If the claim of construction cost of 28 trillion won is true, there is a contradiction that the construction cost of the Gadeok Island new airport is false.” False.”

The argument that opening of the port at the end of 2029 is difficult is “a port can be opened at the end of 2029, before the 2030 World Expo, which is scheduled to be held if construction commences in January 2024 due to the omission of air demand surveys, exemption of travel expenses validity, and simultaneous design and construction under the Construction Technology Promotion Act. He added.

The special law for the construction of a new airport on Gadeok Island went into the resolution of the National Assembly at 2 pm on the 26th. Inside and outside the National Assembly, there is a prospect that the bill will pass smoothly with the approval of the Democratic Party and the people’s strength.

Busan = Reporter Hwang Sun-yoon [email protected]