[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The special law for the construction of Gadeokdo New Airport has passed the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee. On this day, the Gadeokdo New Airport special law cleared the hurdle of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and is now only awaiting the plenary session on the 26th, but the ruling and opposition parties continued their disputes until the last moment. The opposition expressed concerns by referring to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's report on Gadeokdo New Airport, while the ruling party drew a line against expanding the debate, stating that the content had already been agreed upon by both parties in the standing committee.
On the 25th, the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a plenary meeting and passed the Gadeokdo New Airport special law. The Gadeokdo special law, which passed the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee on the 19th, included provisions to exempt the preliminary feasibility study and simplify the preliminary feasibility assessment. With the passage of the special law through the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on this day, only the plenary session of the National Assembly remains tomorrow.
However, opposition lawmakers expressed concerns about Gadeokdo New Airport. Kim Do-eup, a member of the People Power Party, said, "Ministry of Land officials are creating reports saying the new airport should not be built and are persuading the National Assembly," asking, "What is going on?"
Another member of the same party, Cho Soo-jin, referred to the Ministry of Land report stating that "there is a high possibility that the Gadeokdo runway will sink into the sea," and Jang Je-won said to Son Myeong-su, Deputy Minister of Land, who was present, "It pains my heart and makes me feel sorry to see you awkwardly speak because the president did not take responsibility and say 'I will do it myself.'"
Kim Nam-guk, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, "The new airport bill was agreed upon by the opposition as well and passed together in the standing committee," adding, "The Legislation and Judiciary Committee has overstepped its authority."
The Gadeokdo New Airport special law will be finally passed at the plenary session on the afternoon of the 26th.
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