Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Gadeokdo Airport Construction Authority and Busan join forces

Kim Do-eup calls for body to serve as control tower for pressing issues

Lawmaker urges government to reflect construction cost increases tied to Middle East war

An aerial rendering of Gadeokdo New Airport [Busan Metropolitan Government]
An aerial rendering of Gadeokdo New Airport [Busan Metropolitan Government]

A pan-government coordination body established to accelerate construction of Gadeokdo New Airport has begun operations. People Power Party lawmaker Kim Do-eup, who represents Gangseo-gu in Busan, said Friday that the "Gadeokdo New Airport Construction Project Coordination Body" — comprising the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Gadeokdo Airport Construction Authority and Busan Metropolitan Government — had launched with a kickoff meeting.

Kim said he had submitted a proposal to then-Prime Minister Kim Min-seok in January calling for the formation of a coordination body involving the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Gadeokdo Airport Construction Authority and Busan Metropolitan Government, an early ground-breaking on priority construction work, and the creation of a cross-ministry task force to expedite permitting and licensing. He said he had since held consultations with the Office for Government Policy Coordination and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The coordination body includes the director general of aviation policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the chairman of the Gadeokdo Airport Construction Authority and the deputy mayor of Busan. Its agenda covers a review of permitting and licensing requirements for approval of the implementation plan and ground-breaking, monitoring of construction schedules and rapid-response measures for changing site conditions and emerging issues, a long-term airport development roadmap — including a comprehensive development plan linking the airport to surrounding areas through a sea-and-air multimodal logistics system connected to Busan New Port — and communication efforts to boost the local economy and foster cooperative partnerships.

The body will hold quarterly meetings, with working-level sessions scheduled monthly. During the detailed design phase, a cross-ministry permitting and licensing task force will be assembled and activated early to ensure timely processing of approvals from related ministries.

"I hope the coordination body will not remain a formality but will serve as a genuine control tower that works through and resolves the many pressing issues at hand," Kim said. "Despite the many twists and turns, I will work with the government with every resource available to ensure the project moves forward with momentum and without further disruption."

On the issue of reflecting rising construction costs, Kim said the failure to account for inflation was not a problem unique to the Gadeokdo New Airport project but a systemic shortcoming affecting all projects, and urged the government to take responsibility and address it promptly. He called on President Lee Jae Myung to personally step in to align the relevant ministries' positions and ensure that cost increases are reflected without delay.


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