The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport hinted at the possibility of resuming the Seoul-Yangpyeong Expressway project. It has been 18 days since Minister Won Hee-ryong of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that the project will be canceled. It seems that he felt burdened as the controversy grew over the complete suspension of a national project that had been raised as a necessity since 2008 at a word from the minister. The various suspicions triggered by the opposition party’s ‘suspicion of preferential treatment for the family of Mrs. Kim Gun-hee’ have not been resolved.
An official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said at a press conference held at the Sejong Government Complex on the 24th, “(Yangpyeong Expressway) cancellation is, in a way, shock therapy.” The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs released 55 documents related to the Seoul-Yangpyeong Expressway online the day before, saying체스카지노, “We will do our best to get out of the subject of political dispute and normalize it as soon as possible.” In fact, it is an admission that the goal is to normalize the business, not to ‘blank’ (cancellation of the business).
In fact, since Minister Won’s ‘declaration of cancellation’, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has continuously explained that the route (alternative) established during the feasibility study process is superior in many aspects to the route (alternative plan) that has undergone a preliminary feasibility study instead of promoting the suspension of the project. It is a coincidence that the end point of the alternative is close to the land owned by Mrs. Kim Kun-hee’s family.
Minister Won also appeared in a YouTube video and actively tried to clarify the suspicion. In a 24-minute video, Minister Won said, “I am in a position to hope that the project will be promoted as normal, free from political strife and rumors as soon as possible.” At the same time, he insisted, “As social conflicts are growing as baseless suspicions and fake news are spread, we have inevitably decided to cancel it.” He also said, “It is very welcome and if all politicians agree, we will do a full investigation” to the claim to disclose the land owned by politicians by conducting a full survey of land around all intersections of highways.
Despite repeated clarifications by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Minister Won, there are still unresolved suspicions. A typical example is whether it is physically possible for the designer in charge of the feasibility study to establish an alternative and propose it to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in just two months after winning the contract. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said, “The designer outlined the route direction, and other highway projects also generally suggested alternatives in the start report,” but they could not come up with any evidence to support this on this day. However, Lee Yong-wook, head of the Road Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, added, “I can’t find data on the launch report of a project that is too old, but I will disclose the currently secured three if necessary.”
Some point out that Minister Won’s declaration of cancellation was hasty. If he was the minister in charge, he should have clarified the suspicion and promoted the project. A professor related to urban planning at a university in the metropolitan area, who requested anonymity, said, “It was hasty for the minister to cancel a policy that various stakeholders, including residents, have been involved in for a long time.” Similar to this point, the question ‘What is the reason for an appointed minister to cancel a national centenary national project, especially a presidential pledge project that he appointed’, was posted on a YouTube video.