Amid a situation where controversies erupted over the location of a new airport in the southeast including Busan, the whole nation is mired in a variety of conflicts small and large that paralyze the working of the government at local and central levels. According to the Office for Government Policy Coordination on June 20, the number of major feuds as classified by the government is 12. As many as 11 local governments out of 17 provinces and metropolitan cities are caught up in some form of dispute.
Most of the problems are over the construction of large infrastructure projects like an airport or building of potentially harmful facilities such as nuclear power plants. For example, the Anyang city government in Gyeonggi Province has confronted with the Ministry of Justice over the relocation of Anyang Penitentiary for 17 years.