Gadeokdo New Airport project resumes with detailed design work underway

Construction of Gadeokdo New Airport in Busan, stalled over a dispute on construction costs, is picking up pace again with a target opening date of 2035.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Gadeokdo New Airport Construction Authority announced Monday that they have begun detailed design work on the airport's site-preparation construction, following consultations with the Daewoo Engineering & Construction consortium — the preliminary sole-source contract candidate for the project.

The detailed design phase will run for 180 days from the start date. After its completion, the ministry and the authority plan to carry out follow-up procedures including a design adequacy review, with the goal of breaking ground on the main construction works in the first half of next year.

The ministry, the authority and Daewoo E&C said they had agreed that the main construction schedule and the airport's opening timeline must not be disrupted, even as follow-up procedures — including price negotiations for the priority construction portion — were temporarily suspended after the basic design received a passing evaluation in September over the issue of adjusting construction costs in light of the war in the Middle East.

To keep the project on track, the ministry is pushing to amend the Gadeokdo New Airport Act to allow cost increases stemming from Middle East war-driven inflation to be reflected in the construction budget. It is actively consulting with the National Assembly with the goal of passing the amendment by year-end.

The ministry also said it will continue negotiations with Daewoo E&C to finalize the priority construction contract by year-end, in tandem with the legislative amendment, to ensure smooth progress on the main works next year.

Calls to bring construction costs in line with reality have grown louder from both the consortium and the political sphere, as soaring materials prices driven by the Middle East conflict and other factors have made the issue increasingly urgent. On Nov. 2, People Power Party lawmakers representing Busan constituencies said the Gadeokdo New Airport project "stands at a critical crossroads over the construction cost adjustment issue," adding that "the cost problem must be resolved promptly to ensure the airport opens on schedule in 2035."