South Korea will start building two small airports on two remote islands starting in 2017 that will greatly improve convenience for residents and fuel tourism, the government said Thursday.

Once built, the two airports can connect Ulleung and Heuksan, located in the East Sea and Yellow Sea, respectively, to Seoul, with a travel time of about one hour, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said.

At present, travelers from the capital city can expect to spend 5-9 hours transferring from bus to train and then boarding a ferry to reach these islands, while bad weather can halt boat service altogether.

In the case of Ulleung, which lies 120 kilometers off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula, bad weather prevents ships from docking a quarter of the year. The boat service cancellation rate for Heuksan, located 97 kilometers southwest of the port of Mokpo, stands at around 13 percent per year.

The government expects to spend 580.5 billion won ($499.1 million) on building the airport for Ulleung and 183.5 billion won on Heuksan.

The ministry said that the airports will both have one 1,200-meter-long, 30-meter-wide runway and will be able to accommodate 50-seat propeller-powered regional passenger planes such as the ATR-42 and Q300.

Bidding for the Ulleung airport construction will be completed by the end of this year, while competition to build the Heuksan airport will be held early next year.

"Heuksan airport will be opened in 2020, with Ulleung to follow a year later," the ministry said.

The opening of the airports, meanwhile, is expected to not only help people living on the islands, but promote local tourism.

Travelers visiting Ulleung could reach 925,000 in 2030 from 460,000 in 2013, with numbers for Heuksan expected to rise from 360,000 to 883,000 in the same period.

The ministry said that because these islands are in key locations in the East and Yellow seas, direct flights can allow the government to keep closer tabs on illegal fishing and facilitate search and rescue operations in the event of accidents. (Yonhap)