Ministry of Strategy and Finance held the Financial Project Evaluation Committee
The cost-benefit ratio of 0.5 is not business-feasible
“According to the law, exemption from other examples for balanced regional development”
The cost is double the original calculation, the demand is 1/2 of the business
The burden, such as opposition from environmental groups, will be shifted to the next government.
Aerial view of Gadeokdo new airport.
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance has finally decided to exempt the preliminary feasibility study (eta) of the ‘Gadeokdo New Airport Construction Project’, which costs a total of 13.7 trillion won. Despite the controversy over feasibility, the Gadeokdo new airport project, which was promoted for political reasons ahead of various elections, was passed at the last minute of the Moon Jae-in administration’s term, and the burden in the policy implementation process was transferred to the next government.
On the 29th, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance held the first fiscal project evaluation committee for 2022 and decided to exempt the exception for five projects, including the Gadeokdo new airport construction project. Yeta is an essential procedure to investigate the feasibility of a large-scale financial project with a total project cost of 50 billion won or more to prevent budget waste and insolvency and increase the efficiency of financial operation.
Earlier, the government held a cabinet meeting on the 26th and decided on the plan to build the new Gadeokdo Airport. With the final decision on exemption from the exemption through the Financial Project Evaluation Committee on the same day, the project is now entering the business plan establishment stage in earnest.
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said, “The Gadeokdo New Airport construction project is a project that is promoted in accordance with the ‘Special Act for the Construction of the Gadeokdo New Airport’. It was decided to exempt from the example as it is a project that needs to be promoted.”
The government’s decision is being criticized for pushing ahead with public infrastructure projects that have no business value in the last days of his term. Earlier, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that the cost-benefit ratio of the new Gadeok-do airport construction was between 0.51 and 0.58. It did not reach 1, which can be judged to be economically feasible.
The government plans to promote Gadeokdo New Airport as a base airport with complex functions centered on passengers and logistics. If only the international flights of Gimhae Airport are relocated, the expected demand for Gadeokdo New Airport is 23.36 million passengers and 286,000 tons of cargo as of 2065.
The runway of Gadeokdo New Airport, which is designed as a pure maritime airport by reclaiming the sea, will be installed in the east-west direction. The length of the runway was determined to be 3,500 m in consideration of the take-off distance of the national cargo plane. In this process, the government’s plan has nearly doubled compared to the 7.5 trillion won originally proposed by the city of Busan. The expected demand decreased to 23.36 million, half of the Busan city’s forecast (46 million). The port opening time was calculated as June 2035, about six years later than the Busan city request (December 2029).
As the project promotion was confirmed, the full-scale burden was passed on to the next government. Since it is a project to build a runway by filling the 70m deep sea, protests from environmental groups are continuing.
Meanwhile, on the same day, the committee made a decision to exempt from other examples for △Sejong City 5-2 Living Zone Complex Community Center Construction Project △Taean-gun Sewerage Facility Construction Project Private Investment Project △Gwangju City Comprehensive Waste Treatment Facility Installation Project △Eco-friendly Training Boat Substitute Construction Project.
And △Incheon-Seoul Underground Expressway Construction Project △Songdo 5 Bridge Overpass Construction Project △Incheon Port Inner Port Pier 1 and 8 Redevelopment Project △Next-generation Common Local Administrative System △National Autonomous Cooperative Driving Certification Management System Information System △Eup/Myeon Unit (medium scale) The liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pipeline network construction project was selected as a target project for a preliminary feasibility study. To formalize the promotion of these projects.
Ando-Gul, 2nd Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, said, “The six newly selected projects are given priority in national policy, such as resolving traffic congestion in traffic-congested areas, responding to increased port traffic, revitalizing old port areas, enhancing public administrative services, and supporting the commercialization of future core technologies. “These projects are highly ranked,” he said.
Reporter Hwang Jung-hwan jung@hankyung.com
