Seoul (AsiaNews) - The South Korean opposition, local governments and a fringe of the majority Grand National Party (GNP) are seeking a review or the total disruption of the government project, strongly promoted by President Lee Myung-bak, on the four major rivers.
On 2 June local elections in South Korea marked a change in power in some local administrations from the majority to the opposition party. The new local governments are demanding the review of the project, opposed by a large part of South Korean public opinion - including the Catholic Church – because of its high environmental impact. Added to this are the concerns of local administrators close to the ruling majority, the same party of the President, which now finds itself at a crossroads.
The project, supported by the Blue House in Seoul, provides a series of initiatives and excavations near the four main rivers of the country. One of these, the Grand Canal, has already been repudiated in 2008 by the Diocese of Incheon. The Canal provides for the creation of a "water highway" uniting Seoul to Busan: in practice, this is an excavation of 540 kilometres that connects the Han and Nankdong Rivers.
According to critics, the plan puts at risk the drinking water resources as well as the ecological balance of the country. For the new government, however, is a "unique" opportunity to remove freight from highways and to renew the tourist market. In any case, the government has earmarked about 13 billion for the program. For opponents, it is "wasted money".
Lee Si-jong, the newly elected governor of North Chungcheong province from the ranks of the opposition stresses the need for "another examination on the feasibility and correctness” of the project on the four major rivers. He is calling for a the creation of a Council to find countermeasures to this project which will unite all minority parties that are in leadership in the areas involved in the project.
Doubts about the planned work are also being voiced by government officials. Gu Sang-chan, deputy of the GNP, points out that by voting "the South Korean people expressed their disagreement” with certain public works, including the four major rivers project, which must be "suspended or abandoned”.