The Gwangju military airport has been confirmed as the site for a Honam semiconductor industrial complex worth 800 trillion won ($520 billion), but a long list of obstacles — including amendments to special legislation, the lifting of military zone designations and relocation procedures — must be cleared before ground can be broken.
Under the current legal framework, relocating a military airport takes at least 10 years, making it essential that permitting and administrative procedures be fast-tracked through a company-tailored package, officials say.
The first task is amending the special act governing the "donation-for-transfer" scheme. Because the Gwangju military airport site is designated as a military protection facility and flight safety zone, close coordination with the Ministry of National Defense will be required.
The current Special Act on Military Airport Relocation and Support requires local governments to build a new airport and donate it to the state, after which the Defense Ministry transfers the original site to the local government — a mechanism known as the "donation-for-transfer" arrangement.
Under this arrangement, the South Jeolla-Gwangju integrated special city would have to raise 10 trillion won on its own to fund construction of the new airport. The city has said that a rapid push is simply impossible without amending the special act to make the central government responsible for relocation costs. A separate 20 trillion won budget for the integrated city is earmarked for building industrial infrastructure and residential amenities around the semiconductor factory.
Lifting the military protection facility and flight safety zone designations is also a prerequisite for breaking ground.
The military airport site is currently off-limits to civilians and cannot be developed. Even after the site is designated a national industrial complex, construction cannot begin — even if environmental impact assessments and other administrative procedures are completed — as long as fighter jet takeoff and landing drills continue.
Lifting the zone designations is a matter the government can act on by decree, and a swift decision is being called for.
Relocation procedures for the military airport must also advance in parallel.
At a six-party consultative body meeting on the Gwangju military airport relocation convened by the presidential office last December, participants agreed to move Gwangju Airport's domestic routes to Muan Airport in line with the Phase 2 opening of the Honam high-speed rail line in 2027.
The meeting also produced an agreement to develop advanced industry infrastructure in Muan-gun — including a national agricultural AI transformation platform and an aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul center — and to fast-track the designation of a Muan national industrial complex.
Since then, the Defense Ministry selected an area in Mangun-myeon, Muan-gun as a preliminary relocation candidate site on April 2 and held a first round of discussions on formally designating a relocation candidate site on June 17.
A second round of discussions scheduled for June 30 was then canceled, throwing the government's plan to finalize the military airport's new location this year into doubt.
Even after a relocation candidate site is designated, further steps remain — including announcing a support plan and holding a residents' referendum — making it urgent to compress the administrative timeline.
"The Gwangju military airport has all the ideal conditions as a semiconductor site, but its status as a military facility is the biggest obstacle," an official from the South Jeolla-Gwangju integrated special city said. "We need to pursue the special act amendment and the air wing relocation discussions at the same time if we want to complete even the first semiconductor factory ahead of schedule."
sij@heraldcorp.com
