[Anchor]

A new controversy has emerged regarding the Donghae-1 and Donghae-2 gas fields, which produced natural gas off the coast of Ulsan. It has been confirmed that the government failed to pay the occupancy and usage fees for public waters that should have been allocated to Ulsan City under the law. It is estimated that if calculated correctly, the amount Ulsan City should have received would reach tens of billions of won.

UBC reporter Kim Young-hwan has the story.

[Reporter]

The Donghae Gas Field is located 58 kilometers southeast of Ulsan.

It was the only gas field in the country where the Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) began commercial production in 2004, producing natural gas and crude oil for 17 years before ending production in 2021.

Currently, the dismantling of production facilities and the transition to a carbon capture and storage project are underway.

To produce oil and natural gas from the sea, one must obtain an "occupancy and usage permit for public waters" from the state and pay the corresponding "occupancy and usage fees."

Furthermore, regulations state that half of the occupancy and usage fees collected from mineral extraction in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) must be attributed to the nearest metropolitan government.

In other words, when the Korea National Oil Corporation pays the fees to the government, the government is required to allocate 50 percent of the collected amount to Ulsan City.

However, it has been confirmed that Ulsan City has never received these funds.

[Ulsan City Official: The authority to grant occupancy and usage permits for all facilities within the EEZ is their exclusive right. It is a state authority. Therefore, they claim they have no obligation to inform local governments about the issued permits, and because these are facilities, they argue they cannot provide half of the fees.]

The government has been collecting occupancy and usage fees from the Korea National Oil Corporation.

However, it is estimated that tens of billions of won have been omitted because the calculation of the public waters occupancy and usage fees was not performed properly.

It is estimated that if calculated correctly, the amount that should have been allocated to Ulsan City exceeds 26 billion won.

Although production at the Donghae Gas Field has ended, the controversy surrounding the occupancy and usage fees for public waters is just beginning.

(Video by Lee Jong-ho, UBC | Graphics by Koo Jung-eun, UBC)

UBC News, Kim Young-hwan