Kim San, Muan County Governor, Strongly Expresses Regret over Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's '6th Comprehensive Airport Development Plan'

"Military Airport Relocation Ignoring Residents and Integration with Civil Airport Will Remain a Case of Administrative Failure"

"Expecting Muan Residents to Unite Strongly to Oppose Military Airport Relocation"

Kim San, County Governor of Muan-gun ⓒ Asia Economy

[Muan＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Oh Hwan-joo] Kim San, the governor of Muan County, expressed deep regret on the 24th over the confirmation that the timing of the integration of Muan and Gwangju airports, announced in the 6th Comprehensive Airport Development Plan by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is linked to the relocation of the military airport.

Governor Kim said, “The integration of Muan and Gwangju airports was already clearly stated to proceed as planned in the 3rd Basic Aviation Policy Plan (2020?2024) announced by the Ministry of Land last January,” adding, “However, I cannot understand why the military airport relocation, which is completely unrelated to the civilian airport integration, was included in the Ministry of Land’s 6th Comprehensive Airport Development Plan instead of the Ministry of National Defense.”

He especially noted, “This plan abandons the original purpose of revitalizing Muan International Airport and will remain a flawed administrative case that only fuels regional conflicts and division.”

He continued, “The Ministry of Land’s plan is like an awl piercing the pocket, painfully hurting the people of Muan, but our citizens are very strong and wise, so we will overcome this well,” emphasizing, “This incident will lead our citizens to more strongly oppose the military airport relocation and also unite more powerfully to revitalize Muan International Airport.”

He added, “Although Muan International Airport temporarily slowed down due to COVID-19, it experienced a remarkable growth with an average annual increase of 74% in passengers from 2017 to 2019. Recently, the travel industry is taking quick steps toward normalization with expectations for the post-COVID era, creating positive external conditions for the revitalization of Muan Airport.”

Governor Kim stated, “Along with this, we are preparing to revitalize Muan International Airport by investing huge budgets such as KTX passing through Muan International Airport (2.5 trillion KRW), runway extension (35.4 billion KRW), and expansion of airport convenience facilities (40.8 billion KRW),” and added, “We will make this year the first year of Muan International Airport’s self-sustained development and mobilize all necessary capabilities to make it a gateway to Northeast Asia and a representative airport of the Republic of Korea.”

Muan＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Oh Hwan-joo ohj1358@asiae.co.kr