Hallasan cable car controversy reignited
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The Hallasan cable car debate has flared up again.
The need to install a cable car on Hallasan Mountain for tourism vulnerable groups such as the disabled and the elderly was once again raised, but Jeju Governor Oh Young-hoon took a resolutely negative stance.
As the number of visitors to Hallasan Mountain increased after it was designated as a national park in 1970, several controversies continued, including environmental damage and the installation of a cable car on Hallasan Mountain that lasted for over 40 years. Discussions were sparked during the development process in the 1960s, and were aborted and re-discussed several times. It has been a controversial issue that has heated up Jeju society since the era of popular election autonomy in 1995. At the end of the 4th popular election, this issue was intensively reviewed by the Jeju Provincial Government through the operation of a task force, but it sank below the surface for a while with the final conclusion of ‘impossibility’ in February 2010.
The quiet discussion on the Hallasan Mountain cable car surfaced again when the Ministry of Environment conditionally passed the environmental impact assessment in February of last year for the project to install a new Osaek cable car on Seoraksan Mountain.
Local business groups and the tourism industry argue that installation is necessary for profitability, including convenience for the underprivileged and revitalization of the local economy, while environmental groups oppose it, saying it will destroy the environment of Hallasan, a UNESCO biosphere reserve and a world natural heritage site.
Governor Oh dismissed related discussions, saying that installing a cable car on Mt. Halla could be an obstacle to getting redesignated as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site, and that tourism on Mt. Halla using urban air mobility (UAM) is possible.
According to Jeju Island on the 17th, in response to Rep. Kang Sang-soo’s question about the need to install a cable car on Hallasan Mountain for the tourism vulnerable in the provincial council question held the previous day, Governor Oh said, “It is right to discuss it again when there is a new argument or a new issue that needs to be discussed is identified.” He said.
In response to this, Rep. Kang emphasized, “Isn’t it the same as building a take-off and landing pad on Hallasan Mountain? We need to pursue the installation of UAM and cable cars in parallel.”
Rep. Kang said, “In the case of Jeju, UAM is not suitable for business due to adverse weather conditions due to severe weather changes such as wind and rain,” and added, “Currently, demand for Hallasan Mountain is artificially limited through a reservation system for visits. “There were concerns about cable cars in the past, such as environmental destruction, but these days, technology has developed so much,” he said, arguing for the need to install a cable car on Hallasan Mountain.
Representative Kang Ha-young also said, “Starting in 2025, people aged 65 or older will exceed 21% of the total population, entering a super-aging society. The number of people with disabilities is more than 10% of the total population. “Are you going to insist that they have to walk for sightseeing?” he said, adding, “We should consider introducing cable cars to Hallasan Mountain Yeongsil, Sara Oreum, Donnaeko, etc.”
Governor Oh said, “7% of tourists in Hawaii take helicopter tours. “If we assume that there are 13.5 million tourists visiting Jeju annually, if we apply 7%, we estimate that about 1 million people will take UAM tours annually,” he explained.
He continued, “The reason why several domestic companies formed a consortium (related to UAM) and worked with Jeju Island was because they judged that such added value could be created. However, if this market is divided into two with cable cars, problems will immediately be raised,” he said, adding, “This must be taken into consideration.”
Governor Oh said, “The Hallasan cable car has been discussed since the 1960s, and the pros and cons continued until the 2000s, leading to a philosophical debate regarding the conflicting values of development and preservation. “We need to think about ways to avoid dragging this debate into a philosophical debate,” he said. “We will seriously think about how we can make up for the lack of tourism-type UAM for the socially disadvantaged, the elderly, the disabled, and the tourism vulnerable.”
Jeju = Reporter Lim Seong-jun [email protected]
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