The Korean railway and construction industries need to be upgraded to the levels of advanced countries to guarantee sustainable development amid the global economic crisis, a seminar was told.
Deputy Minister Choi Jung-ho of the Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) participated in a forum on railways at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on June 29.
Many speakers echoed views on the need to guarantee sustainable development.
MOLIT Deputy Minister Choi, a keynote speaker at the forum, summed up the message for the railway field as “speed and convenience.”
Regarding speed, Deputy Minister Choi said slow-moving trains should not forget speed to gain recognition from people, adding that they are going to lose price competition due to the recent release of cheap flights of low-cost carriers.
Choi also stressed the need for collaboration between Korea Rail Corp. (KORAIL) and Korea Rail Network Authority (KR). “The problem is that KR does not reflect KORAIL’s views in the course of making infrastructure, causing side effects. Both entities need to cement cooperation from the early stages of construction,” he said.
Deputy Minister Choi also stressed the need for ensuring the safety of railways, saying that securing technology to ensure safety of the railway network is essential.
Choi explained MOLIT’s policies and suggested ways of developing the construction industry. “The Korean construction industry will have to turn to overseas markets due to the current saturation at home,” he said.
The most important thing for the exploration of overseas markets is the exporting of manpower who have what it takes to meet global standards, said Choi, adding that the nation will have to educate gifted youth so they can have capabilities to meet overseas demand and provide support to go abroad for work.
Deputy Minister Choi expounded the major policies for the year 2015, including the stabilization of the rental housing market, fixing collusion issues, improvement of transportation safety and the utilization of water resources.
As to the stabilization of the rental housing market, Choi said homeowners and tenants have different interests in the ratio of converting jeonse (housing guarantee money) into weolse (monthly rental fees), so the biggest issue is about how the disparity can be solved. In this regard, he also said more than 120,000 permanent rental housing units have been added to the market annually. The government has introduced a new enterprise-type rental housing for middle-income families, dubbed “New Stay Policy,” he said. If the implementation of the New Stay Policy causes any side effects, he said the government may intervene, but the principle is that it will be left to market forces.
Referring to the advancement of the construction of the construction industry, Deputy Minister Choi said it is essential to conform construction systems to global standards.
Unification has emerged as part of the national agenda, said Choi, adding that the government plans to establish a master plan to develop the Korean Peninsula, including North Korea, which will cover all fields, including railways, roads and water resources. In the water resources sector, Choi said the government is pondering how water in the four biggest rivers can be utilized to cope with droughts, and the construction of small dams at each region may be an alternative.
The mega trends of the construction industry and society may be summed up as “multidisciplinary convergence,” he said.
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