New President Kim Kyung-wook of Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) delivers his inaugural speech as he took office as the ninth president of the corporation at IIAC’s grand auditorium on Feb. 2. (Photos: IIAC)

Former Vice Minister Kim Kyung-wook of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) took office as the ninth president of Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) on Feb. 2.

Under the stewardship of the newly inaugurated IIAC President Kim, Incheon International Airport, celebrating the 20th anniversary of its opening this year, is expected to address some pending issues as soon as possible and set the stage for innovative growth for the next 20 years.

President Kim is a seasoned expert in the aviation and transportation fields. He started his public service career after passing the 33rd higher administrative examination.

He held prominent positions such as MOLIT second vice minister, land and transportation secretary of the presidential secretariat, deputy minister in charge of transportation logistics, and deputy minister in charge of planning and coordination.

President Kim was evaluated for having demonstrated superb capabilities to coordinate conflict resolution and execute policy tasks while being with the MOLIT.

Newly inaugurated IIAC President Kim Kyung-wook receives a bouquet of flowers from an IIAC official in token of congratulation at his inauguration ceremony.

Kim is considered to have the right stuff to overcome crises caused by the coronavirus pandemic and solve pending issues, including changing temporary workers into regular employees.

He has demonstrated leadership to lead Incheon International Airport’s “leap forward” in becoming a global hub airport.

“I’ll do my utmost to help Incheon International Airport make a second take-off through massive innovation,” President Kim said in his inaugural speech. “If and when the crisis, caused by the pandemic, is mitigated and the global flight demand comes to life, the global competition of becoming an international hub airport will be accelerated in earnest,” he said.

President Kim stressed innovation, not the conventional way, to secure an upper hand to become a global hub airport in the post-COVID-19 era.

He enumerated innovation tasks: attaching top priority to securing safety, reinventing airport services, spearheading future growth and gifted manpower development.

A limited number of IIAC officials were allowed to participate in President Kim’s inauguration ceremony in accordance with social distancing guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The ceremony was also streamed live over the internet.

Kim called for realizing safety as its foremost priority in the post-COVID-19 era by leading the construction of infrastructure in the airport health area.

To this end, he said, Incheon International Airport will be the first airport to be safe from the pandemic by building a quarantine platform based on the technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution like non-contact fever measurement infrastructure.

Incheon International Airport has been upgrading a drone detection system to prevent illegal drones, critical to safety and security. Incheon International Airport has decided to dramatically expand airport services catering to passengers.

Immigration services will be overhauled by employing the technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution such as smart passes based on biometrics and walk-through security clearance.

Self-driving shuttle buses will be introduced in a pilot project next year while new airport services such as a robot parking system and an urban air mobility (UAM) will be introduced as long-term tasks.