Issue Focus

● This study analyzes the problems of the preliminary feasibility study system due to changes in the SOC investment environment, including the deepening economic and population gap since its introduction in 1999, and tries to come up with measures to improve them. ● While the budget management system in Korea is a structure that conducts preliminary feasibility studies at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance (Public and Private Infrastructure Investment Management Center of the Korea Development Institute) and decides after conducting feasibility studies to reflect the results, the preliminary feasibility study system has continued to target projects worth more than 50 billion won and 30 billion won of state funds since its introduction in 1999. ● The nation's economy has more than tripled in the last 20 years, with consumer prices rising 1.6 times and construction costs rising 2.2 times. In other words, a building that could have been built for 50 billion won in the past can now have to be built for over 110 billion won. ● Currently, more than 50% (25 million) of the population live in the metropolitan area, and the net movement of the Korean population continues to show a positive trend in the metropolitan area. Moreover, the GRDP in the metropolitan area exceeded the GRDP in provincial areas in 2017, which is unfavorable for the non-capital region in the analysis of economic and other factors. ● The U.S., U.K., and Japan have the same pre-evaluation system as Korea's preliminary feasibility study, but unlike Korea, they do not conduct preliminary feasibility studies on two occasions, and the responsible for conducting the assessment is also the ministry in charge of the project. ● In conclusion, it is necessary to minimize redundant pre-assessment of preliminary feasibility studies and to seek to reduce the number of projects subject to preliminary feasibility studies by raising the scope of projects subject to the original plan.