Saemangeum Airport Construction Project Contractor Selection Bidding Begins
Ruling Party: "11 Trillion Won Budget Secured Using Jamboree as Excuse"
Kim Kwan-young, Governor of Jeonbuk: "Not a Special Privilege for Jeonbuk Only"
Amid ongoing repercussions from the disruption of the 2023 Saemangeum World Scout Jamboree, controversy has arisen over the announcement of a bid for the construction of Saemangeum New Airport.
According to Jeonbuk Province on the 15th, the Seoul Regional Aviation Office of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport posted a bid announcement on the Public Procurement Service's Nara Marketplace in March for selecting a contractor for the Saemangeum International Airport construction project. The bidding opened on the 14th and will close on the 17th. Currently, three companies have applied for the preliminary screening.
This announcement concerns construction related to the 'airside,' the aircraft movement area, selecting a contractor to develop a site covering 1.87 million square meters and to build the runway, apron, control tower, and other facilities. The project will proceed under a turnkey contract method, combining design and construction. The total project cost is 807.7 billion KRW, with about 510 billion KRW allocated for this phase.
The Saemangeum International Airport project was officially launched in 2019 after being exempted from the government's preliminary feasibility study list. At that time, the B/C (benefit-cost ratio) was 0.479, falling short of the economic viability threshold of 1, but the exemption was granted in consideration of national balanced development.
Jeonbuk Province plans to open Saemangeum International Airport as early as 2028 and accelerate investment attraction and development in Saemangeum by establishing a logistics system including airport, port, and road infrastructure.
The Saemangeum International Airport Caught in the Fallout of the Jamboree Disruption
However, following the controversy and disruption of the recently held Jamboree in Saemangeum, red flags have been raised regarding the progress of social overhead capital (SOC) projects such as Saemangeum International Airport. The ruling party claims that Jeonbuk Province has been pushing the Saemangeum project excessively by leveraging the Jamboree.
Song Eon-seok, a member of the ruling People Power Party and the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Special Committee, recently stated, “The SOC budget related to Saemangeum, which Jeonbuk Province secured under the pretext of the Saemangeum World Scout Jamboree, approaches 11 trillion KRW,” and pledged thorough verification.
In fact, Jeonbuk Provincial Assembly member Kim Dae-jung was reported in 2017 to have said, “The purpose of the Jamboree is to resolve SOC projects.” In 2018, Jeonbuk Province announced plans to expand various infrastructure such as airports needed in Jeonbuk through a “low-cost, high-efficiency” Jamboree.
However, Jeonbuk Governor Kim Kwan-young explained at a press conference the day before, “Saemangeum has been promoted as a national project under relevant laws since the Roh Tae-woo administration, long before the Jamboree was hosted,” and “Saemangeum SOC projects are also being carried out according to the ‘Saemangeum Basic Plan.’”
Regarding Saemangeum International Airport, he added, “The exemption from the preliminary feasibility study was decided by the previous government for national balanced development, independent of the Jamboree,” and “At that time, the government accepted one or two regional SOC requests from all provinces and exempted them from the preliminary feasibility study, so this is not a special favor for Jeonbuk.”
“The Fiction of National Balanced Development” ? Strong Opposition from Environmental Groups
Jeonbuk Governor Kim Kwan-young bows his head in apology at a press conference held on the 14th in the briefing room of the Jeonbuk Provincial Office regarding the disruption of the 2023 Saemangeum World Scout Jamboree. [Image source=Yonhap News]
Meanwhile, environmental groups are strongly opposing the airport construction. The 'Saemangeum Blank Paper Joint Action' filed a cancellation lawsuit against the Saemangeum New Airport last September with 1,308 national plaintiffs, and the first trial is currently underway.
In a statement released on the 11th, they pointed out, “Selecting a construction company to build the airport before completing the environmental impact assessment is problematic,” and criticized it as “irresponsible administration that risks contract cancellation.”
They also argued, “The Saemangeum New Airport, disguised under the fiction of national balanced development and a private international airport, is a dangerously reckless project that destroys tidal flats and precious life at the cost of enormous public funds.”
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