1. Early expressways in the 1960s and the 1970s to support the economic development plan
The Korean Civil War lasted for three years in the early 1950s and it caused devastating damage on all sections of Korea. In 1953, ninety-seven percent of roads were not paved and the GDP per capita was less than USD 100. Even though ten years passed after the truce of the War in the early 1960s, the economic situation as well road condition were not quite different. The first priority of the Korean government at that time was to revitalize the nation through establishing the export-oriented economy system. To pursue this national policy efficiently in medium- and long-terms, the government set up the first Five-Year Economic Development Plan (FYEDP) in 1962. The first FYEDP had achieved unexpectedly high economic growth rates. The growth rate was merely 3.5 percent in 1962, however, it increased to 9.1 percent in 1963 and it reached to 13.4 percent in 1966...
2. Large expressway expansion since the early 1990s to relieve road congestion
The high economic growth has begun in the early 1960s with the introduction of the FYEDP and it has continued for about 30 years until the late 1980s. As a result, the number of vehicles has rapidly increased since the mid-1980s when the per capita GDP reached about USD 2,500. The number of vehicle was merely 528 thousand in 1980, however, it increased to 1,115 thousand in 1985 and high-rocketed to 3,395 thousand in 1990. Since then, it increased 1 million every year in the 1990s so that it reached 12,059 thousand in 2000. The number of private car has conspicuously increased among other vehicles...
3. Large expressway investment possible by ear-marked tax, SOE and PPPs
The rapid investment expenditure into expressways since the early 1990s had been primarily led by the central government and the KEC as a State-Owned Enterprise (SOE). It was merely KRW 342 billion in 1990, however, it rapidly increased to KRW 1,821 and 4,223 billion in 1995 and 2000 respectively. Then, it decreased until 2010 and slightly increased again. Although the investment expenditure by the central government has particularly decreased since the mid-2000s, that by the KEC has not much decreased. On the other hand, the investment by PPPs has largely increased...
4. Rigorous economic evaluation system on expressway projects
When the economic growth rates have been high, the demand on most roads, particularly expressways, has increased so rapidly. Whenever expressways had been newly built, they have been filled up in a few years with a lot of vehicles. Therefore, the economic feasibility study (FS) on transport infrastructure had not been carefully conducted at theses times. Since the Ministry of Transport (MOT) had taken the responsibility of the FS, almost all FS results had been turned out economically feasible. It had been common to over-estimate the demand and under-estimate the cost in most FSs. Then, the major issue had been how to finance them, while the Ministry of Strategy and Finance (MOSF) had taken the fiscal burden. The Asian financial crisis in 1997 had further hit the lack of government budget. Moreover, it had been argued in the mid-1990s that the national expressway network would be completed within a decade or so. So there had been a criticism that transport infrastructure projects might be too much constructed in the near future, if the current FS system is continued...
