Lotte's Skyscraper Dream to Come True > 영어토론방

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The Office of the Prime Minister is reviewing administrative procedures concerning construction of the 555-meter-tall ``second Lotte World'' in Jamsil and approve the plan as early as this month, government officials said Sunday. Lotte initiated the $1-billion project in the early 1990s to construct the trophy tower, right next to the current Lotte World, in a 87,400-square-meter site it bought in 1988.

Lotte has said the super tower will help raise the competitiveness of the country's tourism industry. It expects the number of tourists to increase by between 20 and 30 percent. The current Lotte World, located in Seoul's most thriving area, attracts about 1.5 million foreign visitors annually, according to the retail group. Lotte officials say the new tower is expected to develop into a versatile venue, featuring a first class hotel, a department store, a cinema, theme parks, a concert hall and specialty stores. The Air Force has vehemently opposed the plan, arguing construction of the skyscraper could lead to a potential ``air disaster'' as the site is located just 5.7 kilometers away from an air base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.

The site, often called the Seoul Airport, is home to a number of reconnaissance planes, helicopters and transport aircraft, which are used for collecting, analyzing and supplying intelligence on North Korea's military activities near the border.

However, Lotte officials insisted the worries are exaggerated, saying the new building's location is outside of the flight safety zone reserved by current domestic law. Since the inauguration of the pro-business Lee Myung-bak government, however, the situation has changed. Military authorities changed their language, singing along with the Lee government's drive for deregulation. Cheong Wa Dae officials say President Lee hopes to use the new Lotte World building as a means to boost the country's construction sector, which accounts for roughly 18 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Lotte’s Skyscraper Plan Approved, but Concern Lingers

Lotte's new trophy tower will be 555 meters in height, according to the plan, which took Lotte's aging Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho 15 years to see through. Some military and aviation officials have raised concerns that the building will be too close to Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, which currently doubles as a military airbase. The two sites are located about six kilometers apart, and according to the worst-case scenario, aircraft approaching the airport would be in danger of crashing into the skyscraper. However, in approving the plan, a joint committee of government officials and civilian experts downplayed the safety concerns, saying that the danger could be easily avoided by adjusting the direction of the airport's eastside runway 3 degrees to the east.

The same committee had rejected Lotte's previous request in July 2007. Lotte and the Air Force have recently reached a tentative agreement over financing the reconstruction of the airport's runway and relocating a squadron of KA-1 light fighters to another airbase in Wonju, Gangwon Province. Construction is to start in the later half of the year for completion by 2014. The company will spend over one trillion won (about $716 million) over the five-year construction period.

Aviation experts such as Hanyang University's Cho Jin-soo argue that adjusting the direction of the airport's runway is hardly a fundamental solution to the problem. Statistics show that most aviation accidents occur shortly after takeoff and before landing, and planes flying into Seoul Airport from the north are about 280 meters above the ground when they pass the area around Lotte's planned skyscraper. Although times may differ by aircraft type, it would take only 20 to 40 seconds for a plane to reach the 500-meter plus building after leaving Seoul Airport, Cho said. And pilots flying into the airport will have a window of just 17 to 34 seconds to react if an aircraft wavers off its flight path and moves toward the building, he added. ``Wake turbulence and clear air turbulence could create problems. And a 555-meter building that close to the flight-path would present a psychological threat for any pilot, and should an aircraft move beyond its flight-path due to mechanical problems or other factors, the results could be disastrous.''

Question
1. What kinds of effects can be occurred from Lotte’s Skyscraper?
2. Lotte’s Skyscraper wasn’t approved during fifteen years.
   However, the government approved Lotte’s Skyscraper this year.
   Do you think why government changed their decision?
3. The main argument in Lotte’s Skyscraper issue is that security and economy.
   Do you think which issue needs to be more focused?

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