Gadeokdo New Airport Site Preparation Detailed Design Begins... 2035 Opening Target Maintained

180-day detailed design with the Daewoo Engineering & Construction consortium


"Contract for the early-start portion by the end of this year; main construction to begin in the first half of next year"

The detailed design for the site preparation work for Gadeokdo New Airport will begin. With follow-up procedures, including price negotiations for the early-start portion of the work, halted over the issue of adjusting construction costs to reflect current conditions, the government has decided to proceed with the design first in order to maintain the target opening date of 2035.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Gadeokdo New Airport Construction Authority said on November 9 that they had completed consultations with the Daewoo Engineering & Construction consortium, the preliminary candidate for a negotiated contract for the site preparation work, and that detailed design would begin on November 9.

The Daewoo Engineering & Construction consortium passed the basic design evaluation in September. However, follow-up procedures, including price negotiations for the early-start portion of the work, were temporarily suspended over how to reflect increased construction costs resulting from the war in the Middle East. The ministry, the authority and Daewoo Engineering & Construction decided to proceed with the detailed design first to avoid delays to the construction schedule.

The ministry is pursuing an amendment to the Gadeokdo New Airport Act to allow construction costs to reflect inflation. Consultations are underway with the aim of passing the amendment in the National Assembly by the end of 2026, and a contract for the early-start portion of the work, linked to the amendment, is also planned to be signed by the end of 2026.

The detailed design will take 180 days from its start date. Once the design is complete, the goal is to begin the main construction work in the first half of 2027, following subsequent procedures such as a review of its adequacy.

Bird's-eye view of the new airport on Gadeokdo Island.

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