A view of a ceremony to declare a vision for Incheon Inner Harbor at the Harbor Park in Inchon on Jan. 9. Among those on hand at the event are Minister Kim Young-choon of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Incheon Mayor Park Nam-choon, LH President Park Sang-woo, and President Nam Bong-hyun of the Incheon Port Authority. (Photo: IPA)

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries(MOF), Incheon Metropolitan City, Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) and Incheon Port Authority (IPA) held a ceremony to declare a vision for Incheon Inner Harbor at the Harbor Park Hotel in Incheon on Jan. 9 with about 200 people in attendance.

Since March 2018, the four organizations have joined forces to jointly commission a master plan on the comprehensive development of Incheon Inner Harbor into a logistics, marine and tourism center, which will make the port compatible with the city.

The Incheon Inner Harbor Redevelopment Committee, comprising of the Incheon area’s civic organizations, port union, logistics association, media outlet representatives, experts, government officials, and city councilors, has participated in the establishment of the master plan.

It takes on significance that the committee has involved in the whole process of the establishment of the plan by aggressively reflecting and coordinating the stakeholders’ views to produce the final outcome.

The plan calls for dividing and developing five districts into specialized ones by taking into account each wharf’s location and surrounding conditions - 1st and eighth wharves reserved for a marine and culture district, 1st, 2nd and 3rd wharves reserved for multi-functional business district, 4th and 5th wharves reserved for open residential district, the hinterland of the 4th wharf and 5th wharf reserved for an innovative industry district, and 6th and 7th wharves reserved for an tourism/leisure district.

The plan also calls for linking three axes to have synergetic effects by inducing the creation of high-end waterside space and shared development with the existing urban parts – an axis linking China Town and its existing background downtown parts, an axis connecting Incheon Station, and an axis connecting the existing tourism resources such as the Mt. Weolmi area.

It seeks to insure gradual co-existence of port logistics and city functions through phase-by-phase implementation and the realistic consideration of the inner port’s mid- and long-term logistics volumes.

Incheon Inner Harbor will be developed in three stages.

The first phase project calls for redeveloping a part of the 1st wharf and 8th wharf whose closing has been finalized with dedication slated for 2024, while the second phase project will be launched in 2025 to redevelop the 2nd and 6th wharves.

 
The last, 3rd phase project will be implemented to redevelop the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th wharves in consideration of logistics volumes in 2030 or later after consultation with port-related workers.

IPA President Nam Calls for Developing of New Port Infrastructure

IPA held a ceremony to kick off the 2019 business year at the IPA grand auditorium and cruise terminal on Jan. 2 in which IPA President Nam Bong-hyun called for the development of new port infrastructure, realizing social values, and achieving a goal of attracting logistics volumes.

In his New Year message, President Nam stressed the implementation of core projects without interruption and the safe operation of ports.

President Nam urged his executives and staffers to redoubling efforts to achieve the goal of attracting 3.25 million TEU in logistics volumes during 2019 despite outlooks of difficult economic conditions.