Saemangeum Reclamation Project
By Kwon Yule-jung
Recently I have been to the site of the Saemangeum reclamation with other chiefs of public organizations.
The special event was organized by Korea Rural Community Corp. The corporation has been in charge of the massive project for the past two decades. This project is the largest since our country was founded. It boasts, among other things, a 290-meter-long embankment separating the proposed reclamation site from the sea.
At first we were briefed on the chronological processes of the mega project at the public relations office. One senior staff member and his boss enthusiastically explained the project in detail to us with firm commitment and confidence. Their dedication to their assigned duties deserves to be fully praised.
Over the past 20 years, the project was sometimes in turmoil in the wake of the so-called environmentalists' demand for unconditional and immediate termination of its construction. Their irrational insistence began in 1999 when the 33-kilometer-long section of embankment was nearly completed.
I was shocked to know that their exorbitant request was not based on one bit of rational judgment. At the time of their initial presentation of many problems, which they said would cause environmental damage, less than four kilometers were left unfinished for the full connection of the levee.
Staff of the corporation had no other option but to defend their decision against the extremists. Meanwhile the project was at a standstill, as even two former presidents ordered it to come to a halt for no specific reasons only to bow down to volatile public opinion. The construction resumed after the Supreme Court rejected the militant environmental groups' ridiculous tirades and upheld the corporation's ongoing business.
Economic and social losses following the suspension of work combined with two time lapses amounted to billions of dollars. Even the negative effect on the environment is almost negligible. The mud flats harmed in the course of development are also reviving quickly enough. None of those environmentalists involved in prevention of the gigantic project showed any kind of remorse or even less responsibility for such huge damage to the nation.
Those invited to the construction site were taken to the viewing stand around huge locks, the largest of their size and most up to date in technology, to control tidal flows. We were also lucky to look at the control center of machines situated in the basement, which adjust the height of the locks.
Even Dutch engineers recognized as the top experts in the fields of locks and reclamation were amazed and envious of Korea's state-of-the-art technology and craftsmanship.
It is very natural that engineers from Third World countries were desperate to learn how to develop such high technology. As a result, the corporation's engineers were invited to countries mainly in Africa and Asia. While they were teaching some expertise on reclamation to their counterparts from these countries, they felt proud of Korea's identity and high level of technological progress. In that sense, they deserve to be called the genuine patriots.
Our country is in the process of maturing to a full democracy. It may take some years, or decades, to reach fruition. Many opposition and dissident groups spruced up just after military dictatorship gave way to civilian governments.
Still, many individuals and organizations are addicted only to their own unilateral arguments, not taking different viewpoints into consideration.
Procrastination about the reclamation site was attributed to many non-governmental groups' diehard demands for an unconditional shutdown.
As candlelit protests against American beef turned out to be absolutely futile to national development and harmony and reconciliation, non-scientific and rumor-mongered arguments need to be more stringently verified in an open and transparent forum. The reclamation construction shows us a very good example of what is needed for our country's steadfast development.
The writer is director of Daejeon Patriots and Veterans Office. He can be reached at england6227@hanmail.net.