The 2nd Geyongbu (Seoul-Busan) Expressway and 2nd West Coast Expressway projects need to shift from private sector financing to state-financing, said Rep. Yi Wan-young of the Saenuri Party.

Citing problems involving private sector financing for expressways, Rep. Yi favored the implementation of mega-expressway projects with state coffers to form a virtuous cycle of investments and promote balanced national development. 

Rep. Yi is a member of the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee. The following are excerpts of an interview in which he spoke of his parliamentary activities, including his role during the 2014 parliamentary interpellation of the government. 

Question:  How do you feel about winning three awards during the 2014 parliamentary interpellation of the government ? the Sasenuri Party Best Lawmaker Prize, the Best Lawmaker Prize from the Construction Economy Newspaper, and Best Eco-friendly Lawmaker Prize?

Answer: I’m overjoyed whenever I receive a prize. I dedicate myself to working out fundamental steps to make Korea safe. Now that safety has become our daily life issues, institutional reform needs to be done to tackle safety issues. 

Despite my tight parliamentary work schedule, I tour my constituency -- Chilgok, Seonggok, and Goryeong, Gyeongsangbuk-do -- every weekend. I promise to do my best to lend an ear to people from diverse walks of life and to reflect their opinions into state affairs, since regional politics is as important as central government politics. 

Q: Safety has emerged as the most talked-about issue during the 2014 parliamentary interpellation. What points do you as a member of the National Assembly°Øs Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee make and propose to strengthen safety?

A:  Even though safety issues figure prominently in the wake of the Sewol ferry disaster, there are other problems, like the discovery of a series of sink holes and an incident when spectators’ fell to their death through a ventilation shaft in Pangyo, south of Seoul, exacerbating public misgivings over safety. I’m striving to do my best as a member of the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee. I have urged the government to get to the bottom of each accident and to reveal who is to blame, through a parliamentary audit, one of the strongest means to control the government.

During the current government interpellation, I asked the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and its affiliated bodies to take fundamental steps to ensure safety by making the following proposals -- getting tough with automobile lawbreakers, illegally restructured vehicles and overloaded freight trucks; inspecting aviation safety, such as search and rescue capabilities for an emergency at Incheon International Airport, direct jurisdiction over safety management; reconsidering endurance limits of railroad cars and introducing a competition system for the inspection of railroad management; improving safety regulations into ventilation shafts and crowded events to prevent tragedies similar to the one in Pangyo; and overhauling management regimes at construction sites to prevent such accidents as sinkholes and cave-in of the upper deck of the Banghwa Grand Bridge. 

Q:  What points did you focus on for regional balanced development during the 2014 parliamentary interpellation?

A: I proposed that greenbelt areas for restricted development should be lifted, particularly for rural districts, to balance development differences between the Seoul metropolitan area and other parts of the nation. For balanced development, I pointed out the need for giving more preferential treatment to provincial areas than the Seoul metropolitan area in terms of greenbelt relaxation ratio and support for residents, and I touched on subjects related to daily life, including the floor area ration of agriculture production centers (APCs).

I called for advancing a project to build the Nambu Inland Railroad Network for balanced national development and the establishment of stations at the Goryeong-Seongju section. I called for advancing a project to build the Nambu Inland Railroad Network for balanced national development and the establishment of stations at the Goryeong-Seongju section. I urged the establishment of Seodaegu Station in connection with the operation of KTX trains departing from Suseo and the building of the Chilgok Buksam Station on the Daegu metropolitan railroad network. I’ve made every possible effort to give transportation convenience to regional residents as a member of the parliamentary committee, as I pointed out the fact that Saemaeul trains do not stop at Waegwan Station, a center of the Chilgok country area in the wake of the opening of the KTX’s 2nd Phase railroad route.

Q:  Did you mention the need for pouring state money into expressway construction projects, citing side-effects of the private sector’s project financing?

A:  Citing problems involving the private sector’s expressway project financing during a parliamentary audit of the government, I proposed that the 2nd Geyongbu (Seoul-Busan) Expressway and the 2nd West Coast Expressway projects shift from private sector financing to state financing. 

The introduction of private sector financing, designed to overcome a shortage of state money, has gotten nowhere. Government subsidies, including construction costs and toll fee loss compensation amounts, have accounted for close to 40 percent of total project costs. The government’s provision of 1.4 trillion won in subsidies to the private sector-financed projects almost matches the cost of direct construction by Korea Expressway Corp. 

Accumulative toll fee loss compensation amounts offered to nine private sector-financed expressways since 2002 stood at 2.3 trillion won. The private sector-financed projects take more time than state-financed ones, causing land purchase costs to double -- to 1.7 trillion won -- which is a financial burden to the government. The general public’s expressway toll charges rise higher, as the private sector-financed expressways are 1.83 times more expensive than state-financed ones. Profits the private sector-financed expressways earn fall into the hands of involved companies, whereas proceeds from state-financed ones are reinvested into the implementation of non-profit expressways to form a virtuous cycle of investments, and state-financed expressways are more suitable for balanced national development. 

Q:  The construction industry, one of the nation°Øs cornerstone industries, is suffering from a long-term downturn, and construction companies are going bankrupt every day. What steps do you propose the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee take to fix these woes?

 A:  Of late, the construction industry has suffered a management crisis due to a plunge in construction orders, worsening of profitability, and a liquidity shortage. 

Construction orders have dived to 91 trillion won in 2013, 36 trillion won lower than 129 trillion won in 2007.  

What makes it worse in a situation in which large- and small-sized construction companies alike have withered, the government’s budget for social overhead capital is forecast to decline 7.5 percent. Calculation of construction costs based on those of previous projects and ordering companies tending to abuse their upper hand authority corner construction companies.

Eighteen of the top 100 contractors are undergoing workout programs or receiverships. Of late, Sungwon Corp. and Byucksan E&C are going through bankruptcy. 

If the situation is left abandoned, the construction industry is getting closer to an abyss of catastrophe. 

The committee will have to devote itself to normalizing the slumping economy of the construction industry, which has a quite share in the national economy and is closely related to low-income people’s economic activities. 

First, the government’s budget for SOC investments should be expanded to invigorate the sagging regional economies and improve low-income people’s livelihoods. 

Second, the actual construction-cost calculation system should be disbanded or overhauled to ensure people’s safety and strengthen the construction industry.

Efforts should be aggressively made to provide support to help Korean contractors make inroads into foreign markets. 

Q: What are the pros and cons of your 25-year career as a labor ministry official?

A:  Government officials-turned lawmakers have a strong point of getting a better understanding of how the government is operated. They tend to get a better grip over gathering necessary information at each government department and more soother communications relations concerning the planning and execution of policies than other counterparts. Chances are high that government official-turned lawmakers might fall into a trap of planning and execution of desk-bound policies. They tend to see things based on such reports as objectivity, rationalization, foreign case studies, but the solutions to problems may be frequently found on the scene.  

I stress the keys (solutions) on the scene while meeting with government heads during parliament committee, hearing sessions and other meetings. It means lending an ear to people’s voices. Government officials tend to do their duties while sitting at desks, whereas lawmakers rush to the scene to hear people’s voices. It means that government officials have to devote themselves to translating actions into decisions, but they are asked to see how they will work on the scene. 

My gaining recognition as a kind of environment-cum-labor expert is owed to rolling up my sleeves and going wherever I am needed. In the environmental field, I have made efforts to find solutions on the scene. I toured the Sudokwon landfill site and investigated in person the ingredients of sewage bags. Those efforts have paid off. 

My stint as a senior staff member of the ruling Saenuri Party before I was elected as a lawmaker -- serving a bridge between government and party -- proved to be a precious chance to earn my political stripes.