Gyeongbuk Gov. Lee Cheol-woo announces Gunwi County’s agreement with Gyeongsangbuk-do and Daegu to a joint candidate site of a new airport in thee Daegu-Gyeongbuk area.

A major stumbling block in a long-standing goal of building a new airport was cleared for the Daegu-Gyeongsangbuk-do’s area 5.1 million residents.

A project to relocate Daegu International Airport took a historic step. The Daegu K-2 Air Force base, built by Japanese in 1936, was reborn into the current Daegu International Airport in 1961, 59 years ago.

Chances were high that the new airport project might be foiled since Gunwi County, which was eliminated in a race of selecting a new airport site, insisted on its single candidate site of Ubo-myeon.

But Gunwi County changed its mind and accepted an option of a joint candidate site covering Sobo-myeon, Gunwi-gun, and Biyan-myeon, Uiseong-gun.

Gunwi’s agreement with Gyeongsangbuk-do governor and Daegu mayor came last minute on July 30, one day before the deadline.

The deal will allow the new airport project to be fast tracked. The project is expected to be accelerated after the Ministry of National Defense (MND) holds a new airport site selection committee and concurs with the joint candidate site proposal.

According to the Daegu municipal government and the Gyeongsangbuk-do provincial government, the agreement calls for building a new airport capable of launching mid- and long-haul flights bound for Europe and North America. The target year of opening the new airport is 2028.

An imaginary view of a new airport site covering Sobo-myeon, Gunwi-gun, and Biyan-myeon, Uiseong-gun. (Photos: Gyeongsangbuk-do provincial govt.)

The size of the new airport, covering 15.3 sq. km, is double the size of the current Daegu International Airport.

The new airport will be outfitted with facilities such as runways and hangars on an area covering 11.7 sq. km, and there will be a 3.6 square km surrounding buffer zone designed to reduce aircraft noises.

The step may be taken in consideration of the possible expansion, possibly related to a rising aviation demand.

There will be two runaways, each stretching more than 3.2 km in length.

The MND and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) plan to consult on using one of the two planned runways for civilian purposes and the other for military purposes.

A passenger terminal will be designed to accommodate more than 10 million passengers per annum. The airport will be equipped with diverse convenience facilities, as well as a cargo terminal, to be designed in consideration of cargo demand.

Air Force base facilities will be relocated in a donation & concession format, in which the municipal government will build a military airport and Air Force facilities and related costs will be covered with proceeds related to the development of the current airport site.

The value of the current airport site is estimated at 9.27 trillion won. Daegu City plans to expand access to the new airport such as railway and road connection.

To this end, Daegu’s fourth ring road, a metropolitan road connecting Joya-dong, Buk-gu, Daegu and Dongmyeon-myon, Chilgok-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and the expansion of the Jungang Expressway are planned.

A high-speed railway linking Dongdaegu Railway Station and Seodeagu is to be opened to public services next year.

The railway network is to be connected with the new airport. Daegu City plans to develop the current Daegu International Airport area covering 6.9 sq. km into a “eco-friendly waterside city,” suiting with the nearby Geumho River and Mt. Palgong.

Gyeongsangbuk-do plans to develop the new airport’s surrounding and backwater areas covering about 4.3 million sq. meters into an aviation cluster at a cost of 1 trillion won.

Gyeongsangbuk-do Gov. Lee Cheol-woo said, “The Daegu-Gyeongbuk new airport area will be the biggest-ever one in the district and the ‘Korean New Deal’ in the post-COVID era.”

The provincial government will endeavor to make the new airport one with a world-class competitive edge, he added.