Korea has been seeking to bolster its sovereignty over the Dokdo islets in the East Sea for years against Japan’s repeated attempts to challenge its control of them.
But besides issuing a series of diplomatic statements condemning Japan’s claims over Dokdo, the Korean government has not done much to solidify its ownership of the disputed island.
However, an envisioned airport to be built on the nearby Ulleung Island may do the trick as it will help attract more visitors to Dokdo and improve logistics conditions there.
The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs unveiled a plan last December to construct an airport on Ulleung Island for light-weight aircraft carrying up to 60 passengers.
Its runway will be 1.2 kilometers-long and 60 meters-wide, costing about 640 billion won ($590 million) to build.
The majority of South Korea's many airports are losing money, perhaps the most notable of which is the "ghost airport" in Yangyang, Gangwon province, which got the attention of the BBC last May. According to that report, 11 of Korea's 14 airports are operating at a deficit---all but Incheon, Gimhae (serving Busan), and Jeju---and there is talk of building more. That report also said the newest airport, in Jeollanam-do's Muan county, is operating at only 3% capacity and, as I wrote on May 2nd, is the second least-busiest airport in the country though it partially serves Gwangju and the busy southwestern corner.
An unnamed senior official at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance told the Korea Times, for what it's worth:
“Besides boosting the number of visitors to Dokdo, it will also improve the logistics situation for these two remote islands. The airport will make it easier for the government to transport not only civilian supplies to those who reside in the islands, but also military personnel and weaponry if needed,” the official said, stressing the Dokdo islets are historically and internationally an indisputable part of the Korean territory.
Rightly or wrongly the paper brings up Japan's latest round of textbook offenses that dispute the, um, disputed territory, though I can only think building an airport to "transport not only civilian supplies . . . but also military personnel and weaponry if needed" will do little to ease tensions.
8 comments:
Korea's airports have some tough competition - namely, buses, trains, and cars, all of which are cheaper and easier to plan. Need to be in Busan in an hour? Great - first, get to the airport, go through security, wait for the plane to arrive, get on the plane, take an hour nap, then get off, get out of the airport, and try to get to your destination from there. Thanks, but Seoul to Busan is a three-hour KTX ride.
Seoul to Ulleungdo? If I want to visit a place, transportation is important - but there's already a ferry there that costs a fraction. Trying to make the island a day trip? Fine, take the plane - the rest of us can take it easy.
Military interests? Yeah, try researching that Cheonan thing a bit more. There's your overriding military interest.
"military personnel and weaponry if needed"
Christ. Is that another veiled threat?
http://dokdoisours.blogspot.com/2010/02/korea-world-hub-of-veiled-threats.html
On the other hand, having an airport on Ulleungdo makes sense, insofar as the ferry there sometimes gets stranded, or has to turn around, if the weather's choppy. Girlfriendoseyo doesn't want to travel there with me, though I really want to see it, because there's always a risk that bad weather will strand travelers on the island for a few days, and that's bad when one has work commitments and stuff.
Rob, you must go to the mysterious island. It's an unforgettable place. They want an airport? The only level land on the island is in the caldera of the volcano. You'd need some brave pilots to land there.
See, the biggest economy is the USA. The USA also has the most airports. So if Korea wants to be the biggest economy (because in korea all that matters is how big the economy is) the Korea needs to build more airports.
I visited Ulleungdo last year and had an excellent time, however, it snowed so much, so often, that our one week trip was doubled as they had shut off ferry service for an entire week. An airport would make that a thing of the past.
That said, there is only one flat area on the entire island and it's a thing of beauty. It's all part of the volcano crater in the center of the island and the construction of an airport would destroy most of the farmland that fills the crater. Outside of the destruction of one of the most prominent landmark on the island would be the simple danger of flying into the island. It is EXTREMELY rocky with lots of jagged vertical cliffs, spires of rock and deep valleys. Probably a pilot's worst nightmare. Add to that the fact that the only place roads can access the flat area on Ulleungdo are on the north side of the island, an hour's drive from where all the hotels are on the south side of the island. There are no roads going through the center of the island, only ones that ring the edges, carved into the seaside cliffs.
As much as I would love for more people to visit Ulleungdo I don't think the island can actually handle more tourists.
Thanks for that insight, T. Jason. (and for the comments from everyone else) I figured the airport talk was just hot air, a convenient and new way to keep Korea's claim to Dokdo in the news. It's a bad enough idea looking at it that way, and especially so when you consider the terrain, what's already there, and the island's limitations.
I've never visited Ulleung-do, but everyone I've talked to and every account I've read has said it's very beautiful. But, as we know Dokdo is Korea's beautiful island, so all others be damned. *cough*
nuke the rocks, problem solved
As far as I know, that crater (나리분지) is not the location which has been on the drawing board to house the airport since, well, since for a long time.
The place in question, if my facts (dating from when I lived on the island in 2006) are correct (noting that landing in the crater would be a touch dangerous, after all, and commercially ruinous for what farming goes on there) is 석포동 (Seokpo-dong) on the north east corner of the island.
This spot (of which I have photos, for those who are interested) is pretty high up, and looks like a tough place to build an airport, though, so perhaps the plan has changed.
As an aside, one interesting story I heard from residents was that in the mid-90s a helicopter service to the mainland was launched. Expensive and ill-advised it may have been, but there it is. The helipad can be found a little south of 석포리 (Seokpo-ri), as I recall.
Anyway, the reason why it stopped was that the maiden voyage apparently went down, killing 11, and putting a tragic lid on air transit ambitions in the area for another few years.
Anyhow, back to topic. Since an all-weather harbor has almost been or has just been completed at 사동리 (Sadong-ri) just to the west of the main, not all-weather and many-an-English-teacher-return-journey-to-mainland-hampering harbor in 도동리 (Dodong-ri), and bearing in mind that airport talk has proven to be the ultimate in empty election rhetoric more than once, I would imagine this airport schtick might not come to much.
Anyway, I'm with Chris: the ferry is awesome, makes the whole thing a great adventure, and so I would advise people not to delay their trips to the most beautiful place in Korea (in my view, which is why I moved there) because they want to fly. I suspect you'll be waiting a long time.
BTW the military thing is not much of a threat, really, since there has been a naval unit on the island since, well, since forever, and, in any case, flying soldiers in 60 at a time on a Cessna doesn't sound like much of a military strategy to me.
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