The South Korean Government announced plans for investments in 12 ports across the country. The expansion plans include the development of Busan as a mega-port, and the expansion of cargo handling capacity of the ports. The overall investment will reach the cost of 41.8 trillion ($35.2 billion).
Specifically, the Korean government will inject KRW16.03trn directly and the remaining KRW25.77trn will be raised from the private sector. Busan port alone will receive KRW13.6trn of investment. Overall, Busan port is seeing major development, as it was globally ranked second, concerning its container cargo services.
The Korean government plans to improve Busan port infrastructure by adding 21 berths and making it capable of accommodating 25,000-teu containerships.
Moreover, South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries stated that the plans include expanding cargo handling capacity at the 12 ports to 1.85bn tonnes by 2040 from 1.32bn tonnes in 2017, container handling capacity to 48.73m twu from 27.17m teu in 2017.
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The Government plans to construct two additional ports. One will be on the southern island of Jeju which will be developed as a cruise port, and another at Donghae on the east coast, which will handle cargo.
Concluding, in light of the expansion plans, the South Korean Ocean Minister, Moon Seong-hyeok, recently informed that he will focus on enhancing the country’s shipping industry and adopt new technologies to advance its capabilities.
