DISPUTE OVER AIRPORT CONSTRUCTION

[Anchor Lead]

The construction of a second airport on Jejudo Island has been a contentious issue for years. To quell the controversy, the local government has decided to conduct a public poll on the issue right after the lunar New Year holidays. It will be the first time that the opinions of local residents will be reflected in a large-scale state project based on the results of a public survey.

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In November 2015 the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport triggered a controversy by announcing its plans to build a second airport in Seongsan, Seogwipo on Jejudo Island. The project was estimated at 5 trillion won, but the public is still sharply split on its feasibility and its environmental impact. To quell the controversy, the government and a council of the Jeju Special Self-governing Province have decided to conduct a public poll on the matter. The decision comes after the land and transport ministry said that the issue was not subject to voting and that casting ballots in person would be difficult due the ongoing pandemic.

[Soundbite] Yang Duk-sun(Prof., Jeju National Univ.) : "University Collecting local residents' opinion is extremely important. It's the fundamental rule of democracy and the spirit of local governance."

The poll will be conducted by two domestic surveying institutions over the course of three days starting on February 15. It will survey two thousand island residents and 500 residents of Seongsan, the town where the second airport is to be built. The results are to be announced on February 18 at 8 p.m. via nine mass media outlets. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has pledged to take the result of the poll into consideration, as the island's residents are sharply split on the matter.