Ulsan's urban railway (tram) Line 1 project has fallen into a dilemma. Ulsan Mayor Kim Sang-wook launched a full reexamination of the project, citing wasted budget and traffic congestion, but has been unable to find a legal way to halt it due to penalty payments and legal liability arising from contracts worth thousands of billions of won that have already been signed.
The Ulsan city government held a final response meeting chaired by Mayor Kim on the 31st to determine whether to proceed with the tram Line 1 project, but failed to reach a clear conclusion.
The biggest obstacle is the procurement contracts completed under the previous mayor. In March and April, the city signed contracts for vehicle manufacturing (Hyundai Rotem) and for design and construction (Hanshin Engineering & Construction consortium) in turn. If the city unilaterally scraps the project, it must bear astronomical compensation liability. Concerns were also raised that if the city forcibly halts the project, the officials in charge or the contractors could face civil and criminal punishment for abuse of authority and breach of trust in the course of duty.
The conclusion was that "according to legal advice, it is not lawful for the Ulsan city government to (terminate the contracts). In other words, the Ulsan city government has no authority to legally halt the project."
The city also sought an administrative solution through consultation with the central government, but received a ruling that it was not possible, and the meeting concluded without results that day.
Conflict over the project in the local community has reached its peak. Park Maeng-woo, a conservative elder and former Ulsan mayor who attended the meeting, argued, "This is a wrong decision that causes astronomical budget waste and traffic congestion," adding, "Rather than fixating on compensation liability or criminal punishment, it should be boldly scrapped."
By contrast, Nam-gu, whose district the line runs through and which shares the ruling People Power Party's line, is strongly opposed. Baek Hyun-jo, chairman of the city council's Industry and Construction Committee, criticized, "Overturning a large national project without an alternative only fuels citizen confusion and distrust in policy." Nam-gu District Mayor Lim Hyun-cheol and lawmaker Kim Tae-kyu also adhered to "proceeding as originally planned," citing regional development, putting them out of step with the city.
Amid this, controversy over procedural legitimacy has also come under scrutiny. The Ulsan Citizens' Solidarity filed a public interest audit request with the Board of Audit and Inspection on the 30th. The request seeks an investigation into how the previous city administration recklessly signed a large-scale main contract at the end of its term, before essential administrative procedures such as detailed design and environmental impact assessment had even been completed. The Solidarity noted, "If the project is resumed without sufficient procedural verification and citizen deliberation, it could lead to enormous fiscal losses in the future."
Ultimately, the city decided to continue seeking ways to halt the project, setting a deadline of early March next year when main construction begins. Its policy is to find a solution through a public discussion process together with departments, citizens, and civic groups.
Mayor Kim ordered the attendees, "The public discussion process must not become a wasteful debate of pro-and-con arguments between camps," and, "Please continue to find ways to legally halt the project." He added, "Please pay particular attention to project management so that project costs are not increased or citizen inconvenience does not arise at the stage of finalizing the implementation plan."
