Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Overcoming initial problems, Busan New Port is ideally placed to emerge as a leading global container port On the occasion of the opening of the Busan New Port on January 19, 2006, Korea IT Times held an interview with Minister Oh Keo-don of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. The following are excerpts from the interview. Please tell our readers what is the significance of the opening of the Busan New Port Construction of the Busan New Port began in 1997 with the ambitious goal of building one of the world's finest ports handling exclusively container shipping. In contrast to other ports in the nation, the new port has enough potential to become a logistics hub for not just Northeast Asia but also the rest of the world. This is because the new port has been planned from the beginning to be linked with the inland transportation including the railways, and together with an industrial park spacious enough to engage in a wide range of businesses. What assistance does the government plan to provide this year for making innovations to maritime logistics This year will be remembered as a truly historic year in the nation's history of logistics. Following the opening of three berths, another three will open later in the year to handle 2.4 million TEUs, and eventually to 30 berths by 2013. In addition, a total of 720,000 square meters of land will be developed as an industrial complex by the end of this year so that it can handle transshipment of lucrative business. And, the acreage will grow to over 4.4 million square meters by 2013. In order to secure the free flow of traffic to the adjoining transportation system, an investment totaling over 130 billion won will also be put this year for the construction of new road and railway extensions to be completed by 2008. In regard to the Gwangyang Port, which the government has strategically been nurturing together with the Busan New Port, the government plans to construct four new berths to make it 16 by the year's end. To help Gwangyang Port secure a competitive edge and bring it to life at an earlier date, the government will develop an industrial complex nearby by the end of this year on a site of 120,000 square meters and construct a new road and a railway west of the city by 2007 and 2009, respectively. With regard to the ports in Incheon and Pyeongtaek-Dangjin, of which the importance has been growing due to the rise in the volume of trade with China, the government plans to continuously invest and develop them as key logistics bases for the Seoul metropolitan region and as gateways to China. In the case of Incheon, the government plans to embark on making preparations starting this year to begin developing Songdo New Port while relocating its domestic freight service to the North Port nearby. In the case of the Pyeongtaek-Dangjin Port, which has posted the fastest growth in recent years, the government plans to continue investing this year, too, to improve the docking facilities. The Busan New Port is slated to be completed by 2011. What project goals can be achieved during the period According to our plan set out in 2001, a total of 30 berths will be built in the new port by 2011. But, since the project is undertaken mostly out of private funding and we had wished to adopt up-to-date technologies for handling containers, I think that one or two more years will be needed to complete the project. Nonetheless, I expect that the new port will be well equipped to play the role as a hub port of Northeast Asia with 27 berths that can handle 9.65 million TEUs by 2011. Please explain how the government plans to make use of information technologies to raise the competitiveness of Korean ports. In order to secure an advantageous place in the race to become the logistics hub in Northeast Asia and to cope effectively with changes in logistics environment since the September 11 terror attacks, the government has embarked on a project to build 'U-ports' based on RFID technologies. In 2005, the government facilitated the running of a pilot service to locate containers in the nation's major logistics bases, such as inland container depots and port terminals, and those in as far away places as Long Beach in the United States and Tianjin in China. By adopting such a container locating system, we have guided the local logistics industry to secure related technologies, including the RFID tags. The 'U-port' project will be launched first in the Busan terminal this year. And, when the project will be completed by 2008, with a total investment of 29 billion won, it is forecast to have the effect of increasing the productivity at ports by as much as 126 billion won a year through the free passage of containers at port gates and time saving in the loading and unloading of containers. Since 1986, our ministry has undertaken to put port-related information into a database and became the nation's first ministry to provide electronic civil affairs services. In 2005, the ministry constructed the Shipping & Port Internet Data Center (SPIDC). In February this year we will be launching the Internet customer filing service. When this service is made available, customers will be able to use the service free of charge at any time and any place through the Internet. In addition, the government plans to invest 18 billion won this year to improve the information network on logistics in order to facilitate the free flow and utilization of information not only between the government and the private sector but also among government branches as well as companies themselves. When this project is completed, about 26.5 billion won is expected to be saved annually thanks to the sharing of information on transshipment and the logistics automation, and consequently to the increase in transportation efficiency. What measures can be taken to elevate the role the new port can play in Northeast Asia I believe that the building of a logistics hub in Northeast Asia is a prerequisite to the nation's continued growth when we take into account the rapid growth happening in the region. Against this background, it is necessary to set up and carry out a long-term strategy in three respects: First, we need to actively lure not only the prototype transshipment but also high value-added ones that require assembly, processing and labeling by systematically developing the adjacent industrial complex. Secondly, we need to come up with a long-term vision and make preparations to foster the new port as an all-around logistics base as well as a gateway to Eurasia through roads and railways. Thirdly, we need to have a mutually beneficial 'win-win' strategy through which we can both compete and cooperate with rival ports in China and Japan by making the best use of our geographical advantage. What are the major rival ports in Northeast Asia How competitive are they The recently-opened Yangshan Port in Shanghai and other Chinese ports to the north and Japan's Kobe Port could be the major ports with which Busan New Port needs to compete and cooperate at the same time. In the case of Shanghai Port, it has the advantage of having an immense market and an industrial complex on its backyard and, at the same time, the comparative edge with a shorter European route. However, due to the high sediment load continuously carried by Yangtze River, it has run into a difficult situation to have it stretched out. To overcome such constraints, the Chinese authorities have recently opened a new port with 5 berths on the Yangshan island and plans to construct more to make it 30 by 2010. Even so, concerns have been raised that it may encounter difficulties in providing normal service due to the additional cost needed to transport shipments between Shanghai and Yangshan over a 32km-long Donghai Bridge and unfavorable weather conditions with frequent fogs and strong winds. In the case of the Chinese northern ports of Dalian, Tianjin and Qingdao, the volume of their shipments has been soaring in recent years. Moreover, progress has been made to allow large containerships to anchor, thus giving rise to the anticipation that they can be developed into hub ports. Even so, there are limitations in becoming hub ports due to their rather distant locations from the main sea routes and other factors such as frequent fogs. In the case of Kobe Port, the image of which has been tarnished since the Kobe earthquake, the Japanese government has been striving to revive its reputation by designating it as 'Super Hub Port.' In spite of such an endeavor, however, it is thought that the port will face difficulties in turning itself into a hub of Northeast Asia due to high logistics costs. Wouldn't there be any inconvenience for shipping companies to use the New Port In order to secure the new port's safety ahead of its opening, I went on a tour of the new port together with the sea route and conducted a trial operation in December last year. Consequently, I identified a few problems that might hamper its operations. Also, the government has been making all the necessary arrangements including the terminal's auxiliary services and the operation information system in order to provide best service to customers. As regards the port's operation in the future, too, the government will pay heed to customer needs and make improvements so that the new port can be fostered as the hub port of Northeast Asia.