Government leaves door open to revisiting merger after announcing halt
Civic and labor groups say policy is a delay tactic, not a withdrawal
The government announced it would in effect halt its push to merge Incheon International Airport Corporation and Korea Airports Corporation, but left a clause in its official policy document saying the merger question would be "reviewed again" — triggering a fierce backlash from Incheon.
Critics say the government has not truly abandoned the merger but merely delayed it to sidestep immediate controversy.
A civic coalition opposing a hasty merger of Incheon International Airport issued a joint statement Thursday sharply criticizing the government's plan for reforming the functions of public institutions.
According to the statement, the government's announcement included language saying that after drawing up measures to revitalize regional airports and assessing progress, it would review again whether to merge Incheon International Airport Corporation and Korea Airports Corporation.
The coalition characterized this as "a deferral of the merger, not a withdrawal."
"Not merging now" and "not merging in the future" are entirely different things, the group said.
If the government had genuinely scrapped the merger policy, the coalition argued, there would be no reason to leave the word "review" in an official policy document.
Moreover, the government has not specified when, by whom, or on what criteria the merger would be reviewed again.
With no timeline or benchmarks set for any future review, concerns are growing that Incheon Airport's future could once again be thrown into uncertainty by the government's policy judgment.
The coalition said it was a policy contradiction for the government to acknowledge Incheon Airport's success as a hub while keeping the merger option open on the grounds of regional airports' deficits and competitiveness problems.
Incheon Airport, which has grown into a world-class hub, should not be used as a tool to solve the problems of regional airports, the group said.
The deficits and competitiveness issues facing regional airports are challenges to be addressed through national aviation and fiscal policy, the coalition argued — not reasons to destabilize Incheon Airport's independent operating structure.
"Using Incheon Airport's structure as a lever to fix regional airport problems is not policy — it is passing the buck," the coalition said.
The controversy does not stop at a full merger of the two airport corporations.
Even as the government has put a full merger on hold, it is pressing ahead with consolidating core functions — including security, facilities and operations — and reorganizing related bodies.
The government's restructuring plan includes a proposal to establish a tentatively named Aviation Security Corporation by merging the security subsidiaries of Incheon International Airport Corporation and Korea Airports Corporation.
A plan to merge Incheon Airport Facilities Management and Incheon Airport Operations Service has also been placed on the agenda.
On this, the coalition raised sharp questions about whether the government was quietly merging the two corporations function by function while deferring a full merger in name.
The government may say it has stopped the merger, but in practice its policies are moving toward integration piece by piece, the group said.
Critics also said aviation security should not be treated simply as a target for organizational efficiency or cost-cutting.
As the country's gateway airport and a critical national facility that must respond immediately to crises including terrorism, disasters and aviation accidents, Incheon Airport requires thorough verification of safety and on-site response capabilities before any organizational consolidation, the coalition argued.
The coalition is also on alert that a tentatively named Airport Strategy Council the government plans to establish could serve as a back channel to revive merger discussions down the road.
If the council evaluates the results of regional airport revitalization efforts and uses those findings to review whether to proceed with a merger, it could ultimately function as a preparatory step toward relaunching the merger push, the group warned.
The coalition called for full transparency on the council's composition, authority and operating procedures, as well as the criteria for any future merger review.
"What citizens and workers demanded was not a postponement of the merger but the complete abandonment of a hasty merger policy," the coalition said, warning that if the government moves to pursue a merger again, Incheon residents, workers and civil society groups will mount an even stronger collective response.
gilbert@heraldcorp.com
