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Busan Metropolitan City Registers Sole Ownership of Gijang Desalination Plant… Facility Utilization to Move Forward in Earnest

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it completed the final legal procedures to register the Gijang Desalination Plant as a solely owned facility of the City, including the building ledger registration and the preservation of ownership, on September 10.

With this measure, the Gijang Desalination Plant, which has remained idle since its construction in 2014 due to delays in completion and unresolved ownership issues, has now been finalized as a solely owned facility of Busan Metropolitan City.

The City explained that with the settlement of ownership, the legal obstacles that had prevented utilization of the plant for the past 11 years have been removed, providing a foundation for full-scale project implementation.

The Gijang Desalination Plant was jointly constructed in 2014 by Busan Metropolitan City, the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute, and the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology. However, the project faced delays in the completion process and opposition from local residents demanding that the facility not be used for drinking water, resulting in a postponement of ownership settlement.

Busan Metropolitan City has endeavored to restart operations by signing MOUs with the Ministry of Environment and Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water). The situation changed in April when the City completed a feasibility study on utilization measures for the plant.

The City prepared separate utilization plans for Lines 1 and 2 of the desalination facility and actively persuaded the Ministry of Environment. As a result, the City secured national funding support for facility utilization and built a cooperative system for ownership settlement. The Ministry of Environment also visited the site directly and expressed strong agreement on the need for collective efforts to activate the facility.

Consequently, Busan Metropolitan City and the Ministry of Environment agreed to finalize ownership solely under the City for smooth project implementation. Following legal consultation, the ownership transfer was confirmed as gratuitous. The City then actively engaged in communication and consultation with the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute and the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, the joint project implementing agencies, and obtained official written confirmation of their consent for the sole ownership of Busan Metropolitan City. This allowed the ownership settlement procedures to be swiftly concluded.

With the building ledger registration and preservation of ownership completed, the City plans to accelerate utilization projects for both Line 1 and Line 2 of the desalination facility.

Line 1 will be used for the desalination demonstration facility project, with the City making every effort to secure national budget allocations for detailed design in 2026.

Line 2 will be developed as a facility supplying industrial water to the Dongbusan Industrial Complex through the reuse of treated wastewater. The City will continue to refine supply-demand plans, promote additional recruitment of water-demanding enterprises, and push forward full-scale private investment projects.

Mayor Park Heong-joon said, “Through active cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and joint project partners, we have finally resolved the ownership issue. We will do our utmost to utilize the Gijang Desalination Plant to supply affordable and stable industrial water to the Dongbusan Industrial Complex and to transform the facility into a key hub for fostering the water industry in the desalination sector.”