Jeju's 2nd airport project still faces opposition

Rep. Sim Sang-jeung of Justice Party speaks during a rally hosted by a civic group in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, June 16, 2021, against the central government's plan to introduce a second airport on Jeju Island. The placard below Rep. Sim reads "Cancel the plan for a new airport on Jeju!!" Korea Times file

With environment ministry's approval, local division intensifies

By Ko Dong-hwan

Despite the environment ministry's conditional approval of a plan to build a second airport on Jeju Island, the already long-delayed project still seems to have a long way to go before construction begins due to unceasing protests from those accusing the ministry of giving up on its primary role of preserving the country's natural environment.

Ever since the plan was first proposed in 1990, opening another international airport for the global tourism hotspot has been a hot-button issue.

One of the conditions set by the ministry is that local residents' complaints and requests should be taken fully into account in planning the project. Other conditions included resolving the issues of preserving natural habitats for birds and narrow-mouth frogs on the island and conducting thorough studies on the possibility of noise pollution and damaging the island's unique groundwater with high mineral concentrations.

Environment Minister Han Wha-jin talks to officials at the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of Ministry of Environment

"We cannot agree on the environment ministry's decision that lacks scientific explanations and was politically motivated," a group of Jeju residents said in a statement issued Monday. "Nothing on the island has changed since 2021 when the environment ministry rejected the airport proposal by the land ministry. The reason for the rejection was simple: environmental damage from the new airport will not be restored by human efforts no matter how advanced the technologies are. We haven't seen any efforts by the government to prevent that expected degradation."

The group said the project's fate should be decided by the island's residents. They demanded that Jeju Governor Oh Young-hoon hold a local poll and let the result speak for itself.

Another civic group protesting the project said the new airport will push ahead a series of excessive urban development projects across the island, causing land prices to spike and deplete groundwater resources.

"Since the new airport will put many local islanders' lives at stake, they should be the ones deciding whether to OK the project or not," the group said. "And that right should be demanded and protected by the island's governor and lawmakers."

Rep. Lee Eun-joo of the minor progressive Justice Party said Tuesday the strategic environmental impact assessment report by the land ministry, according to the National Institute of Ecology, proved the project should be modified to preserve the natural habitat for narrow-mouth frogs, while the environment ministry ignored that finding. The Korea Federation for Environmental Movements demanded Tuesday that Han step down from her seat.

Proponents of the project, meanwhile, said the environment ministry's latest decision should be the turning point for the island to stop fighting and start working together.

Jeju International Airport is bustling with passengers waiting for their flights, Jan. 27, after heavy snowfall canceled many of the scheduled flights. Newsis

Oh Byeong-kwan, who leads a civic committee promoting the second airport to be built at the island's eastern region of Seongsan, said the environment ministry has accepted the land ministry's latest proposal after repeatedly rejecting it due to the plan's insufficiency in resolving the potential environmental damage.

"We have had our differences for the past eight years and I say that's enough," Oh said, encouraging the project's protesters to bury the hatchet. "Rather than the environmental issues, we should more focus on problems touching on our daily lives including noise pollution and restitution for owners of the land to be used for the airport."

The Jeju Chamber of Commerce and Industry also issued a statement on Monday saying it agrees with the environment minister's decision. It also said the existing international airport has been suffering from a "saturated" volume of passengers as well as safety accidents, which need to be resolved.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation, following the environment ministry's latest decision, will have to ensure the conditions set by the environment minister in the basic plan for the second airport. The land ministry's master plan, after being approved by the environment ministry, must also be discussed with the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province to gain mutual consent on the plan's environmental safety, it said.

The environment ministry previously rejected the land ministry's proposal for the new airport in 2021 ― after two earlier rejections in 2019. The decision had cited the proposal's potential hazardous effects on the natural habitats for birds and their possible physical contact with airplanes, noise pollution in nearby residential communities and impact on groundwater and indigenous species under national protection.

Monday's decision came after the environment ministry concluded that the problems were taken into account in the land ministry's latest proposal.