Lee pledges to launch new airport in Busan by 2029

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung said Sunday he aims to launch a new airport in the southern port city of Busan by 2029.

In February last year, the National Assembly approved a bill on a multi-billion-dollar state project to build the new airport on Gadeok Island, the biggest island of Busan, to handle growing air traffic demand and facilitate prosperity in the country's southeast region.

Unveiling campaign pledges for Busan, Lee said he will speed up procedures for construction of the new airport from March, when a feasibility study for the new airport is completed.

The project is part of South Korea's more than a decade-old debate on expanding air travel infrastructure in the southeast region that encompasses such prosperous cities as Busan and Ulsan.

The central government has promoted a regional development strategy aimed at helping more big cities and provincial governments cooperate with each other.

Under the strategy, Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province, which surrounds the two big cities, have pushed for building a so-called megaregion.

To support the megaregion project, Lee pledged to build more expressways and railroads in the region.

Lee also said he will provide more supports to help Busan host the World Expo in 2030. (Yonhap)