'Contract imminent, but extra costs bouncing between budget ministry and land ministry'
'Presidential office must serve as control tower to resolve inter-agency disputes'
A Busan civic coalition pushing for a new airport and a regional carrier held a press conference Monday morning at the Busan City Council briefing room, urging the government to immediately reform regulations to reflect realistic construction costs for the Gadeokdo New Airport site development and ensure the project proceeds without delay.
More than 20 civic organizations — including the Busan Citizens' Solidarity for Decentralization and Balanced Development and the Busan Civic Organizations Council — participated in the event. The groups said the government has continued to delay measures to incorporate pre-contract increases in raw materials, fuel, labor and maritime freight costs into the project's construction budget, even as the site development work stands at a critical juncture ahead of a preliminary contract and the start of priority construction work.
Under the current schedule, Daewoo Engineering & Construction's consortium submitted basic design documents on Sept. 7. If the government's timeline holds, a preliminary contract is to be signed in October or November following a review by the Central Construction Technology Review Committee and the selection of a qualified contractor for detailed design, with priority construction work set to begin in November. Full ground-breaking is scheduled for the first half of 2027.
The civic groups warned that if the situation continues, contractor withdrawal, contract delays and construction setbacks would be inevitable, ultimately driving up both the construction period and total project costs. They expressed concern that for a project of this scale — with a total budget of about 10.7 trillion won ($7.73 billion) and a construction period of 106 months — the sharp rise in the construction cost index since the tender announcement could generate an additional burden of around 600 billion won if the increase is applied directly.
The groups noted that while current regulations provide a basis for adjusting costs due to price fluctuations after a contract is signed, there is no clear legal basis for reflecting the exceptional cost increases that occurred before the preliminary contract. They said the Ministry of Planning and Budget and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport must stop passing responsibility to each other over whether to resolve the issue by revising the total project cost management guidelines or amending the Special Act on Gadeokdo New Airport.
The groups described Gadeokdo New Airport as a southern hub airport that would anchor an integrated air-and-sea logistics system linked to Busan New Port and drive balanced national development by reducing the concentration of functions in the Greater Seoul area. They urged the presidential office and the Office of the Prime Minister to act as a pan-government control tower to swiftly resolve inter-agency disagreements, and called on Busan city government and local politicians from both the ruling and opposition parties to communicate, coordinate and respond actively.
kaf2002@heraldcorp.com
