Experts call for cost safeguards, streamlined permits ahead of Gadeokdo airport ground-breaking

The Southeast Gateway Airport Promotion Committee and a civic group called Mirae Sahoe Junbi Simin Gongam, or Citizens' Empathy for Preparing for Future Society, jointly hosted an expert policy forum on the successful construction of Gadeokdo New Airport at the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday afternoon.

The forum was organized amid signs that ground-breaking on the priority construction phase of the Gadeokdo New Airport site development could proceed before year's end, following the submission of basic design documents. About 200 people attended, including Busan City Council Speaker Kang Mu-gil; Jeong Hyeong-yeol, chairman of the Busan chapter of the Korea Federation of Construction Contractors; Hong Sun-heon, a policy adviser to the Busan city government; and experts in construction, airports, economics, law and urban administration, as well as representatives of civic organizations.

Choi Man-jin, an emeritus professor of architecture at Gyeongsang National University, presented on what needs to be reviewed before ground-breaking at Gadeokdo New Airport, assessing the project's progress and shifts in the construction environment. He said securing adequate construction costs and expediting administrative procedures, including permits, must be addressed first.

He said the financial burden has grown due to hard-to-predict external factors — including changes in the international situation and rising raw materials prices — since the bid notice was issued, and that actual cost increases need to be objectively verified and reasonably reflected. To that end, he proposed establishing a temporary exemption that would allow price fluctuations between the bid notice and contract signing to be factored in.

To shorten the permit process, he proposed forming a pan-government task force led by the Office for Government Policy Coordination and involving related ministries, the Busan city government and the Gadeokdo New Airport Construction Authority. He said overlapping reviews and consultations spread across agencies covering national defense, the environment, maritime affairs and cultural heritage should be consolidated to reduce administrative wait times.

In a panel discussion involving seven experts from the fields of airports, construction, economics, law and urban planning, participants said objective criteria are needed to comprehensively assess credible construction cost indexes, actual procurement prices, exchange rates, and fluctuations in raw materials and labor costs. Voices were also raised calling for a transparent verification process involving specialized institutions, and for a system ensuring that construction cost adjustments are passed on to local and subcontracting firms.