The development plan for the western part of Busan will be revised following the government's decision to expand the existing airport that serves South Korea's No. 2 city, municipal authorities said Sunday.

The move comes after the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on June 21 that it will scrap its long-running plan to build a brand new airport to service the southeastern part of the country, and opted to expand existing infrastructure at Gimhae International Airport. The airport, one of South Korea's busiest, lies in the western part of the port city.


Under the expansion plan, a new 3,200-meter-long runway will be added to the existing airport that can allow more traffic handling.

This plan will interfere with original plans to build a research and development special industrial zone and a aviation industry cluster.

"Because the new runway will call for height restrictions on nearby buildings as well as bring about noise issues, changes will have to be made to current development plans," a city official said.

He added that measures to build the so-called Eco-Delta City situated south of Gimhae airport will have to be revised considerably, especially the residential areas. The plan originally called for 5.4 trillion won ($4.7 billion) to be used to develop 11.88 square kilometers of land around the Nakdong River delta.

Municipal authorities added that because of the expansion plan that involves extensive transportation upgrades linking the airport to surrounding areas, planners will have rethink routes for roads and railways. Some may have to pass underneath the runway, which will require additional evaluations related to safety.

"The Busan Development Institute and the western Busan development study group are already working on a new plan to take into account the expansion of Gimhae airport, and how best to work around it," another official source said. (Yonhap)