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Assembly passes bills on regional airports

Published: 14 Apr. 2023, 10:12 Updated: 17 Apr. 2023, 16:42

A military trainer aircraft takes off at a military airport in Gwangju on Thursday. [YONHAP]

The National Assembly on Thursday passed a pair of bills for relocating military airports in Daegu and Gwangju.

One of the bills involves a plan to move a military airport and a civilian airport in Daegu, 237 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to a new integrated airport to be constructed in two nearby counties in North Gyeongsang.

The city aims to begin construction in 2025 and open the new airport in 2030.

The special act includes provisions for financial support from the central government and measures to expedite the project, including exemptions from preliminary feasibility studies when necessary.

The other bill aims to relocate a military airport in the southwestern city of Gwangju, about 270 kilometers south of Seoul, to a site in the nearby South Jeolla.

The legislation establishes the legal basis for the central government's financial and administrative support for the project. The site for the new airport has yet to be determined.

Yonhap