Saemangeum Airport Master Plan Annulment Appeal Ruling Set for October 14

First Trial Rules in Favor of Saemangeum Airport Abolishment Joint Action

The Saemangeum International Airport, which faced the risk of construction being halted following the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s loss in the first trial of the master plan annulment lawsuit, will once again undergo judicial review.

Aerial view of Saemangeum International Airport. Photo by Yonhap News.

According to the legal community on August 27, the date for the appellate ruling on the lawsuit to annul the Saemangeum International Airport master plan has been set for October 14.

During the fifth hearing held at the Seoul High Court the previous day, the Saemangeum Airport Abolishment Joint Action (plaintiff) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (defendant) each presented their closing arguments for 40 minutes. The plaintiff reiterated its longstanding argument during the hearing, stating that Surag Wetland, the proposed site for the airport, is a large-scale bird congregation area, and that the only way to prevent bird strikes is not to build the airport at all.

The plaintiff also claimed that the alternative habitats for the Surag Wetland, as proposed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and North Jeolla Special Self-Governing Province, are unfeasible and ineffective.

On the other hand, the Ministry and North Jeolla Province, acting as an auxiliary intervenor, argued that the risk of bird strikes could be fully managed, and refuted the analysis suggesting that the risk at Saemangeum International Airport is 610 times higher than at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province as a misunderstanding.

Previously, Administrative Division 7 of the Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in September last year in the first trial of the lawsuit seeking to annul the master plan for the Saemangeum International Airport development project.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.