Building up Advanced
Road Network
To construct a 6,160-km expressway network in a grid pattern by 2020

Road Day anniversary events are likely to streamline Korea's technology and policy direction on roads and transportation. Nam In-hee, assistant minister of construction and transportation, elaborates on the significance of Road Day and road policies during an interview. The interview was conducted before the celebration of the anniversary.

Question: What's the significance of the 1st International Road & Traffic Expo 2005 and what support does the government provide for Road Day anniversary events?

Answer: The 1st International Road & Traffic Expo 2005 is a venue of revealing technologies of roads and transportation and research outcomes with 11 countries participating. The exhibition will serve as an opportunity to take a look into road and transportation technologies that have made remarkable strides together with automobile technologies and the future of Kore's road networks.
In particular, the events will provide a good opportunity for not only establishing an essential groundwork for facilitating global technology exchanges and commercializing academic achievements, but also instiling people in the road and transportation industry with a sense of pride.
The minister of the Ministry of Construction and Transportation (MOCT) and vice minister themselves are participating in the Road Day anniversary events, including the exposition, to make them a success. They will hold dinners with the participating government representatives to promote exchanges and publicize Korea's development of road technologies. The Policy Debate on Road and Transportation and the 1st International Road & Traffic Conference will lay the groundwork for furthering the development of road and transportation technologies.

Q: Would you explain expressways whose construction is completed or launched during this year?

A: The government is building up an expressway network which will allow motorists to have an access from any place across the nation within 30 minutes. To this end, it aims to build up a 6,160-km expressway network in a grid pattern with seven artery expressways running from north to south and nine artery ones running from east to west by 2020. By 2010, the government will complete about 4,000 km, two-thirds of the planned 6,160 km in total length. Under construction by this year are the 19 new expressway routes totaling 1,093 km in length and 19 expansion routes standing at 611 km in length. Out of the total, the 49-km-long Jinju-Tongyeong newly built expressway and three expansion projects with 48 km in total length - Eunyang-Busan section, Jungak-Okcheon portion and Hannam-Banpo section -will be opened or dedicated during this year, respectively. The 39 km-long Seosuwon-Pyeongtaek and the 24 km-long Yongin-Seoul expressway construction projects broke ground last May and June with private-sector investments. The 45-km-long Eumseong-Chungju expressway project will break ground in the second half of this year.
In particular, the ministry will expand investments to implement expressway construction projects without a hitch. Korea Highway Corp. will issue asset-backed securities (ABS) worth 5 trillion won for a six-year period between 2005 and 2010 in return for guaranteeing operation rights of Yeongdong Expressway and other expressways.
Concerning KHC's standardization and scientific research, aimed at computerizing and sharing blueprints on road designs and other documents on construction and maintenance, the standardization of design diagrams on expressway construction has been completed between 2000 and 2002, and KHC is studying ways of standardizing those of other roads. As part of its efforts to ensure scientific road management, KHC operates a road signboard management center designed to comprehensively manage 130,000 road signboards, which have been handled separately by 250 road management offices across the nation. The center is expanding publicity activities like an on-line complaints report and continues to build up the database on all road signboards.

Q: Would you explain your jobs related to environment management and plans? Could you comment on the government? position on SOC projects which are delayed because of public complaints?

The government has implemented such institutional regimes as prior environment assessment system and environment impact assessment system in a bid to minimize the damage to the environment, caused by road construction while ensuring sustainable development. Especially, public hearings have been held at such stages as planning and practical design to prevent a delay of SOC projects due to public complaints, while local governments' opinions are evaluated at the stage of conducting a feasibility study and basic design. Last December, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation and the Ministry and Environment jointly worked out a guideline on environmentally-friendly road construction, calling for environment, cultural property and neighborhood representatives' participating in selecting road routes. Under the guideline, road routes shall be circumvented to protect areas which are worth preserving the nature, and in an inevitable case, tunnels and bridges shall be built to minimize damages to the nature. On an experimental basis, the guideline will be applied to expressways and national roads this year, and all roads will be subject to the guideline starting 2006. The government is making its utmost to prevent any damages and inconveniences stemming from a disruption in the course of construction work by fully considering environmental factors at the planning stage of road construction projects.

Q: What's the progress of projects to reconnect roads between South and North Korea?

A: There are six roads that have been cut off between South and North Korea. They are the 5.1 km-long section between Tongil Grand Bridge and the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) on the National Road No.1; the 20 km-long portion between Cheolweon and Pyeonggang on the National Road No. 3; the 62 km-long Hwacheon-Pyeonggang section on the National Road No. 5, the 24.2 km-long section between Songhyeon and Onjeongni on the National Road No. 7; the 25 km-long section between Yanggu and Baekhyeonri on the National Road No. 31; and the 40 km-long portion between Shincheolwon and Geundong on the National Road No. 43. Out of them, the 20 meter-wide, four-lane section on the National Road No. 1 was opened at a cost of 90.1 billion won last December. A project to reconnect a 6.7 km-long, 10 meter-wide road between Jeojin and MDL at a cost of 121.6 billion won is under construction for dedication slated for the end of this year. The progress of the project is now 74 percent complete.
In particular, on July 4 this year 32 Asian nations, including Russia, China and Japan, put into force an agreement on the 140,000 km-long Asian Highway project, calling for connecting North Korea, Russia, China and Europe via Korea's Geongbu (Seoul-Busan) Expressway (AH1) and the National Road No. 7 (AH6).

Q: What message do you want to deliver on the occasion of Road Day?

A: Road Day celebrates July 7, the opening day of the Geongbu (Seoul-Busan) Expressway that represents a milestone of Korea's economic strides. Roads have contributed to dynamic development of the Korean economy. As a result, roads have positioned itself as a major transport network accounting for more than 90 percent of the domestic passenger and freight volumes. Despite the overall improvement in road networks, however, Korea still lags behind advanced countries,. Its roads are one-third or one fourth shorter those in advanced countries, with the size of areas and populations factored in. Continuous investments into road construction are inevitable until 2020 when the national trunk networks are completed and the registered number of automobiles is on the rise. Reawakening the significance of roads on the occasion of the Road Day anniversary, the government will make efforts to construct speedier, stronger and more convenient, human-oriented roads so as to raise the per capita national income to $20,000 and serve as a driving force behind the national development. nw

Nam In-hee, assistant minister of construction and transportation