PPP lawmaker blasts regional bias in budget, demands Daegu airport funding

People Power Party lawmaker Yun Jae-ok, a four-term representative from Dalseo-gu in Daegu, raised concerns at the National Assembly's Budget and Accounts Special Committee over plans to redirect a transformer from a Daegu substation and the exclusion of the Daegu-North Gyeongsang Province integrated new airport from the government's budget, urging the government to pursue regionally balanced policies.

At a comprehensive policy hearing on the 2027 budget proposal on Thursday, Yun strongly criticized a plan to divert a transformer from Daegu's Sindalsŏng substation to supply power to a semiconductor industrial complex in the Honam region.

"Among the sites under review for diversion, the Sindalsŏng substation in Daegu is the only one where a transformer has already been ordered," Yun said. "It is inappropriate to delay substation construction in one region just to accelerate a semiconductor project in Honam."

Yun added that "if a transformer is diverted on top of the mega project, the people of the region will not stand by and watch."

In response, Minister of Climate, Environment and Energy Kim Sung-hwan said disruptions to substation construction in other regions would be a problem and pledged to "take measures to ensure there are no such concerns."

Yun also raised the issue of fiscal support for the Daegu-North Gyeongsang Province integrated new airport.

Daegu had requested a total of 340.4 billion won ($254 million) in initial project costs for the 2027 military airport relocation — covering loans from the Public Fund Management Fund and state support for financing costs — but the government's budget proposal did not reflect the request, Yun said.

"The Gwangju military airport relocation site was selected six years later than Daegu's, yet it is moving faster thanks to government support," Yun said. "National support standards must not vary based on political leanings."

Yun urged that the initial project costs be included in the current budget review "so that the Daegu-North Gyeongsang Province integrated new airport is not delayed due to fiscal issues." Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-keun said the government would "discuss the matter closely within the government's proposal."

"No region should benefit from a major national project at the expense of another," Yun said. "I will see it through to ensure Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province secure their fair share."