The Korea Airports Corporation plans to expand Jeju International Airport and its facilities. To do so, it needs more land, so it plans to expropriate it from nearby landowners. Some of them oppose that plan outright, others say the sums being offered are far too low. Joseph Kim reports. Report
[slug] Daho Village in Dodu-dong
This is (다호) Daho Village in Jeju City, neighboring the Jeju International Airport.
[slug] KAC to expand Jeju International infrastructure by 2020
By the year 2020, the Korea Airports Corporation is planning to expand the infrastructure at the Jeju International Airport, which is near peak capacity.
The first step of the plan is to expropriate land.
[slug] 110,000 square meters of land to be expropriated
110,000 square meters of 146 lots should be bought by the corporation.
[slug] Landowners disappointed with planned compensation
37 billion won has been earmarked for the land purchase.
That means the compensation price per 3.3 square meters is set at between 800,000 won and 1.4 million won.
This falls far short of area residents’ expectations.
INTERVIEW Oh Se-man / Farmer It really makes me angry. I haven’t been able to utilize my properties because authorities haven’t allowed me to do anything different for 50 years. Now, they devalue the land. If I sell the land based on their appraisal, I’ll have to borrow money to buy a house. <인터뷰:오세만/농민> "굉장히 열 받죠 지금. 50년 이상 묶어놓은 상태에서 감정평가해서 그렇게 하면 됩니까 안되죠. 여기서 감정평가 받아서 땅사고 집 지으면 빚져요"
Discussions on compensation for land expropriation for the airport infrastructure expansion between Korea Airports Corporation and landowners are going through difficulties.
At a meeting between the two sides, complaints popped up from area residents.
Some insist the expropriation is an infringement of property rights saying that their land has been expropriated four times over the last 60 years since the airport was first built.
INTERVIEW Kim Gi-cheon / Village leader Do you know how much the first airport infrastructure expansion negatively affected us? The psychological damage was indescribable. But we’ve endured the 5 rounds of infrastructure expansion. <인터뷰:김기천/다호마을 회장> "1차 공항 확장으로 입는 피해가 얼마나 되는지 압니까. 정신적 피해가 말도 못해요. 왜 주민들이 이를 겪으면서 4차 5차 까지 견뎌왔는지.."
[slug] ‘Market price should be basis for compensation’
Some others are asking for realistic compensation saying that the proposed compensation price is only one third of the market price and noise damage they’ve suffered for decades should be considered when authorities set the price.
INTERVIEW Kim Gi-chan / Landowner Authorities should ask us to sell our properties if the land is needed. I don’t think their approach is right. <인터뷰:김기찬/토지 소유주> "필요하시면 시가를 줘서 사정해서 좀 팔아주십쇼 부탁을 해야지. 지금 접근 방법이 다르다고 생각하는데요.'
The Korea Airports Corporation is sticking to their policy.
Recording Park Jong-bae / Korea Airports Corporation The Land Compensation Act has a number of mandatory provisions. We are limited in what we can do. <씽크:박종배/한국공항공사 자산관리 담당> "토지보상법에 정해놓고 있는 강행규정이 상당히 많이 있습니다. 자율적인 판단에 의해 할 수 있는 부분은 상당히 제한적이라는 말씀을 드리고요."
The meeting was for discussion about land compensation, but the corporation didn’t notify the date and time of the meeting beforehand. That drew strong criticism.
[Reporter] Joseph Kim [Camera] Kim Yong-min
If the two sides cannot reach an agreement on compensation, area residents are planning to file an administrative litigation against the authorities.
The airport infrastructure expansion will likely drag out for a long time.
