Anger over South Korea river clean-up

Girish Sawlani

Last Updated: Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:58:00 +1100

South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak is grappling with critics of his Four Rivers Project to clean up major waterways and enhance national green credentials.

On the banks of the south-eastern Yeongsan River at the weekend, he launched the ambitious and costly project to rehabilitate four major waterways.

With climate talks in Copenhagen getting nearer, Mr Lee is keen to portray his country as a global leader in the environmental industry.

He is doing it in a big way, spending more than $US19 billion to dredge, dam and beautify the biggest rivers.

Model

The government hopes the Four Rivers Project will increase the supply of fresh water, improve water quality and prevent flooding - in anticipation of uncertainties brought on by climate change.

The project, it says, will be a model for sustainable, green growth as Seoul looks to revolutionise the country's environmental industry.

The project is also set to boost the nation's ailing construction industry and create thousands of jobs in rural areas.

Jun Yong Ki, an analyst with Seoul-based Meritz Securities, says small to medium sized construction firms have some difficulty. "They have not enough money," he told Radio Australia's Connect Asia.

"So this government project will supply companies with a lot of liquidity."

But while construction firms are scrambling for a piece of the multi-billion dollar pie, Jun Yong Ki says the impact on the economy will be insignificant.

"It has a small influence in economic effect. Korean GDP will grow (only) a little bit, maybe 0.1 per cent," he says.

Small gains in the economy there may be, but conservationist fear larger detrimental impacts on the environment.

South Korean environmental groups worry the construction of dams along the major rivers would decrease water flows and damage river quality through silting.

Ma Young Hoon, from the Korean Federation of Environmental Movements, notes there are about 60 fish species endemic to parts of the fresh water streams that will be endangered by the big clean-up.

"Most of them live in the shallow river waters," he says. "But because of the Four rivers Project the depth of the rivers will be (increased) from four to six metres, which will have a negative impact on the fish which like to inhabit shallow waters."

Even as dredging on the rivers begins, environmental organisations are working to prevent the project from going ahead.

Lawsuit

Ma Young Hoon says an alliance of more than 400 South Korean groups will file a lawsuit against the government.

This is "because we think the process of the government is not legal.

“The way the government is pushing ahead violates Korean domestic law."

More than 10,000 people have joined the suit as plaintiffs.

The alliance is also working with members of the National Assembly to cut the budget for the river project, Mr Hoon says.