New Yangpyeong Expressway route is more feasible economically: Land Ministry

[Photo by Yonhap]

The South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport unveiled the results of an analysis showing that the revised route of the Seoul-Yangpyeong Expressway project, which had been accused of favoring First Lady Kim Keon-hee, has a higher economic feasibility than the original route.

“We commissioned a feasibility study to conduct a cost-benefit analysis for each route option for the Seoul-Yangpyeong Expressway, and the cost-benefit ratio of the original route was 0.73 and that of the revised route 0.83, showing that the latter is 0.10 or 13.7 percent higher,” the ministry said on Thursday. The result indicates that the new route is more economical as it offers 17.3 percent greater benefits, handling 6,000 more vehicles of traffic per day with a mere 3.6 percent increase in costs.

In general, a cost-benefit analysis is conducted once the feasibility study is completed after finalizing the project. But the Land Ministry made an exception to compare the economic feasibility of the two options in response to the alleged favoritism raised by the political circle and civic community.

The ministry plans to use the findings of the analysis released ahead of the national audit scheduled for Tuesday to defend itself against the allegations. “The analysis used the same route start point and criteria to compare the options and come up with objective results,” Land Minister Won Hee-ryong said. “We plan to ask the National Assembly for a third-party expert verification of the analysis results so that we can resolve unnecessary controversies and resume the project.”