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'A high risk of bird strikes': Airport on blighted Jamboree site halted

Published: 11 Sep. 2025, 18:45 Updated: 11 Sep. 2025, 19:07

Citizens opposing the construction of the Saemangeum International Airport hold a protest in front of the Seoul Administrative Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Sept. 8. [YONHAP]

A court has halted the government’s plan to build a new international airport in Saemangeum, ruling that the project’s environmental impact assessment had serious procedural flaws. The ruling comes three years after a lawsuit was filed in September 2022 to cancel the project and marks the first time a Korean court has ordered the cancellation of a government airport construction plan.

On Thursday afternoon, the Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of canceling the basic plan for the Saemangeum International Airport project in a suit filed by 1,297 citizens against the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Only three plaintiffs who live in areas with a weighted equivalent continuous perceived noise level of at least 57 decibels were recognized as eligible while the claims of the remaining 1,294 were dismissed.

'Bird strike great risk'

The court said the public interest harmed by the project outweighed any benefits, citing a high risk of bird strikes, the negative environmental impact on the Seocheon tidal flats and the project's limited economic feasibility as reasons the plan lacked objectivity and rationality.

The court said that the ministry had significantly underestimated the risk of bird strikes.

“The defendant did not assess the risk of bird strikes when selecting the airport site, and the risk was not reflected at all in the site selection,” the ruling read. “Although the risk of bird strikes at this site was shown to be higher than at any other airport in Korea, the ministry deliberately downplayed the extent by reducing the scope of the assessment area.”

A bird rests on a wooden stick installed at the Saemangeum field on Jan. 14 in Saemangeum, North Jeolla. [KOREA NATIONAL PARK SERVICE]

The court noted that the expected annual bird strike rate within a 13-kilometer (8-mile) radius of Saemangeum was up to 45.929 compared to 2.997 at Incheon, 0.048 at Gunsan and 0.072 at Muan International Airport.

"A passenger aircraft accident had occurred at Muan International Airport, which the ministry claimed had a bird habitat comparable to Saemangeum," said the court, emphasizing that the ministry had knowingly minimized the risks despite supplementary and revised assessments.

Tidal flats also unprotected

The court also criticized the lack of review on the ecological impact on Seocheon tidal flats, located about 7 kilometers from the proposed site of the airport and designated as both a protected wetland and a Unesco World Natural Heritage site. The area supports around 900,000 birds annually and is the country’s largest habitat for the critically endangered spoon-billed sandpiper.

“The destruction and reduction of feeding and resting sites and the resulting decline in bird populations are inevitable,” the court said. “The ministry did not adequately examine the impact on Seocheon tidal flats nor present concrete countermeasures.”

An empty field where the government has proposed to construct the Saemangeum International Airport in North Jeolla [JOONGANG ILBO]

The tidal flat near the proposed site of Saemangeum International Airport [JOONGANG ILBO]

On economic feasibility, the court noted that the project had a cost-benefit ratio of just 0.479, making it difficult to justify. But it proceeded after receiving an exemption based on a preliminary feasibility study on the grounds of regional development.

“For such a project to be justified, the public interest achieved must significantly outweigh the public and private interests harmed,” the ruling stated.

Environmental assessment to take place regardless

The lawsuit was filed by a “national plaintiffs group” that advocated for the dangers of bird strikes and the need to preserve tidal flats. Environmental groups staged rallies calling for cancellation while regional construction associations demanded swift progress.

On Thursday, plaintiffs wearing paper bird hats gathered outside the Seoul Administrative Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, to hear the result. The Joint Action to Abolish Saemangeum New Airport (translated) group held a press conference afterward, saying, “Today’s ruling shows that the world cannot be moved by outdated development policies” and urged the Lee Jae Myung administration to scrap its new airport policy.

A bird's-eye view of Saemangeum in 2019 [JOONGANG ILBO]

The ruling will be finalized if neither side appeals within two weeks.

Separately, an environmental impact assessment of the project’s basic plan is underway. The Saemangeum Airport project is set to proceed through multiple stages — from feasibility review, environmental assessment and basic plan approval to construction — with completion targeted for 2028. The plan calls for a runway, aprons, a passenger terminal and a cargo terminal on a site of 3.4 million square meters (36.6 million square feet).

A similar lawsuit is also pending regarding the planned Gadeok Island Airport near Busan. In March 2023, 1,028 citizens sued to block the ministry's basic plan, arguing that it had been announced before the completion of a required service study. The Seoul Administrative Court will hold the fourth hearing on Nov. 19.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHOI SEO-IN [[email protected]]