Presidential Plane to Cost 190B Won

It was reported that a new presidential plane, which the government plans to bring in, will cost 190 billion won and be introduced in 2010, not 2008.

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday that under its mid-term defense plan, it is moving ahead with its plan to introduce a new special presidential plane and that it will cost 190 billion won, including interior remodeling and installation of various kinds of equipments on top of the 130-140 billion won for the plane itself.

A presidential plane is usually equipped with state-of-the-art safety devices such as one capable of evading missiles in case of an emergency situation. The aforementioned cost is nearly twice as much as what a senior government official, who is accompanying Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook on her tour in Europe, mentioned: $100 million (100 billion won).

The official stated that a new presidential plane will be introduced in 2008, but a MND official noted that the plane is scheduled to be introduced in 2010, not 2008, and that a new presidential plane will be able to fly non-stop to Europe with a capacity of 150 people.

The MND official added that it will draw up a detailed business plan by the end of this year and decide upon the airplane model. American plane maker Boeing’s 747-400 or the 777 models are said to be possible candidates for a new presidential plane.

A special presidential plane can be used by the prime minister, National Assembly speaker, and the chief justice as well as the president on their trips abroad.

Sang-Ho Yun ysh1005@donga.com