Amid escalating tensions over a new airport site in South Gyeongsang Province, the presidential office said Wednesday that no specific date has been set for the government‘s announcement on the 10 trillion won ($8.5 billion) project.

“The Transport Ministry will make an announcement as soon as a preliminary feasibility study on the new airport project in Yeongnam region is completed,” said presidential spokesman Jung Youn-kuk. 

“No specific date has been set yet.”

Jung’s comment came as Cheong Wa Dae has been thrust to the center of a regional rivalry growing over the new airport project.

Busan and Miryang have been vying for the multitrillion won project. Not only the candidate cities, but also political circles, mindful of voters, have been jumping into the race, claiming their respective side is better suited for the project.

Cheong Wa Dae seems to fear a possible divide in the region, the traditional political base of the ruling conservative Saenuri Party, and its impact on the upcoming presidential election late next year. 

The new airport project was one of President Park Geun-hye’s campaign pledges, as well as that of her predecessors. Previous administrations had given up on selecting the site for a new airport in the face of regional rivalry. 

President Park had urged officials to select the site of the new airport based on economic feasibility, not political consideration. But calls have been mounting to the nation’s top office that the president holds the key.

Amid heated controversy, another presidential official said earlier in the day that after the announcement the government would disclose the list of criteria used to determine which city was better suited as the airport location. 

The government has reportedly planned to pick the location on June 24.

Residents and officials of Busan, the nation’s second-largest metropolitan city and No. 1 port city, are backing Gadeokdo Island, while the surrounding Gyeongsang provinces advocate the Hanam field in Miryang, an inland city between Busan and Daegu.

In June last year, the government picked ADPi, a French company specializing in airport architecture and engineering, to conduct a feasibility study for the new project.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)