Yangsan pushes for charging container tax on YangSan ICD

The city of YangSan in Kyoungnam is going to carry out imposing container taxes on the Yangsan ICD (Inland Container Depot) connected with the Port of Pusan.

The city said Feb. 13 that it will try to revise the bill concerning the container tax through the city council, the provincial government of Kyoungnam, and law makers from the area, to allow the larger local government in control of container ports to charge the tax based on the current local tax laws through the local authority.

The city pointed out that the Yangsan ICD caused traffic jams, road damage, and air pollution. However, it made relatively low contributions to the local economy or labor market.

The city also disclosed that the Yansan ICD handled 560 thousand TEU of container cargoes since April 2000, while local taxes for it cost just 60 million won.

In addition, contrary to expectations of creating 5,000 new jobs, the Yangsan ICD only hired 270 employees, of which only 10 people lived in Yangsan.

A city official said that this claim is just fair compensation for the traffic jams and land shortage in Pusan.

The Yangsan ICD will go into negotiations with the city of Pusan at the end of this year when the taxation period has expired.