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A view of Gwangju Airport. / Yonhap

At Gwangju Military Airport, where the government is pursuing a semiconductor mega-project, the U.S. military is carrying out facility construction projects totaling 43.7 million dollars (roughly 58.2 billion won). Repairs for housing and infrastructure are also planned for next year.

According to an analysis by Asia Today on the 20th of the Annual Report released in April by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Far East District, three major facility construction projects scheduled at Gwangju Air Base this year were confirmed: engineering storage facility repair (B-246, about 3.6 billion won), aviation fuel supply facility construction (53.1 billion won), and steel water tank repair (1.3 billion won).

Among these, the aviation fuel supply facility construction project accounts for 91.5% of total project costs. Promoted through the Republic of Korea Funded Construction in-kind (ROKFC-in-Kind) mechanism, the project was awarded to Daewoo Engineering & Construction by the Defense Installations Agency under the South Korean Ministry of National Defense in November last year.

The remaining two projects were awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Far East District. The contractor for the storage facility repair project was selected in July last year, demolition work commenced in January this year, and completion is scheduled for April next year.

The steel water tank repair work was completed early this year. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the plan was to award the contract in 2024 and hand over the facility in February this year. Along with the work, the U.S. Air Force 8th Maintenance Squadron was reported to have concurrently conducted repair work on existing tank structures.

Meanwhile, the government plans to designate roughly 8.2 million square meters around the Gwangju Military Airport site as a candidate location for a semiconductor industrial complex, pursuing the provisional relocation of the military airport before September 2028. For this to occur, consultations on the return of U.S. military granted land are also required.

                                                                                                              Kim Deok-ho