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Busan Metropolitan City and Gadeokdo New Airport Construction Authority Strengthen Cooperation to Begin Priority Construction Works This Year

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Mayor Chun Jae-soo met with Lee Yoon-sang, Chairman of the Gadeokdo New Airport Construction Authority, at 10:00 a.m. today, August 21, in the Protocol Room at City Hall and discussed key issues concerning the successful implementation of the Gadeokdo New Airport construction project.

The Daewoo E&C Consortium began the basic design for the site development works and the detailed design for the priority construction works on March 9. Construction of the priority works is scheduled to begin at the end of this year, 2026.

At the meeting, Mayor Chun and Chairman Lee agreed that Gadeokdo New Airport is essential infrastructure for transforming the southern region into a new growth axis for the Republic of Korea, and pledged to cooperate closely to ensure the project proceeds without disruption.

In particular, the two sides agreed to work together to develop measures to reflect construction cost increases caused by the recent war in the Middle East in the project budget.

As the war in the Middle East has continued for six months, oil and raw material prices have risen sharply, creating management difficulties for local construction companies participating in the project. Concerns have even been raised that some local construction companies could withdraw from the project, underscoring the need for measures to ensure its smooth implementation.

To ease the management burden on local construction companies and ensure the timely opening of Gadeokdo New Airport, Busan Metropolitan City is gathering opinions from participating companies while actively seeking solutions with the central government and the National Assembly so that construction cost increases can be reflected in the project budget.

In particular, because bringing construction costs in line with actual market conditions is important not only to reduce the management burden on participating companies but also to secure the safety and quality of Gadeokdo New Airport and keep the originally planned project schedule on track, the City plans to continue close consultations with relevant organizations.

In addition, to ensure the main construction works begin without disruption next year, the City is consulting with the Office for Government Policy Coordination on establishing a government-wide dedicated task force to comprehensively manage the progress of permits and approvals and coordinate differences among relevant organizations.

Mayor Chun Jae-soo said, “Gadeokdo New Airport is essential infrastructure for establishing the southern region, beyond Busan, as a new growth engine for the Republic of Korea. We will maintain close communication and cooperation with relevant organizations so that the priority construction works for Gadeokdo New Airport can begin without delay this year.”

He added, “To ensure the prompt construction and timely opening of Gadeokdo New Airport, Busan Metropolitan City will work as one team with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Gadeokdo New Airport Construction Authority to resolve key issues one by one.”