Anchor: The South Korean government has approved waiving preliminary feasibility studies for 23 projects worth more than 24 trillion won. While the government says it is a strategic decision to accelerate balanced national development, critics have voiced concerns that the exemptions could end up wasting taxpayers' money.
Choi You Sun has more.

Report: The 23 projects that had their preliminary feasibility studies exempted by the Cabinet on Tuesday will be on the fast track for implementation through 2029.

Out of the total project cost of 24-point-one trillion won, 18-point-five trillion won will come from the government, an annual average of one-point-nine trillion won for the next decade.

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said with corporate investments and job creation centered in Seoul and its surrounding areas, strategic investments from the government are urgently needed to secure a foothold for regional growth.

The projects were selected from 32 applications from 17 city and provincial governments across the country, excluding Seoul, much of Gyeonggi Province and Incheon.

The projects range from fostering regional strategic industries through research and development, to building roads, railroads and a hospital to treat people injured in industrial accidents.

The government also expects to see more jobs created and regional productivity to increase by giving opportunities to large-scale regional projects that often don't pass feasibility studies because they cater to a smaller population with less demand.

Critics, including Economics Professor Kim Du-ol of Myongji University, point out that the government appears to have announced the exemptions in a bid to boost the economy.

[Sound bite: Kim Du-ol, Associate Professor of Economics, Myongji University]
"A feasibility study is a comprehensive process to assess the economic and social effects of a project and waiving that process could lead to overspending the budget for political purposes."

Civic groups and experts critical of the exemptions say that the government should be careful in exempting preliminary feasibility studies as it could lead to taxpayers' footing the bill for nonviable ventures.

Introduced in 1999, the study is meant to avoid wasting budget money by assessing how beneficial a project would be for local residents and the national economy for the money being spent.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.