Four rivers emerging as new tourist attractions

By Lee Hyo-sik

The state-funded restoration work has turned the country’s four major rivers into a new tourist attraction in which family and friends engage in a wide range of leisure activities.

Bicycle riders now can ride along the river banks that extend hundreds of kilometers across the country, while water-sports lovers enjoy diverse fun activities. Municipal administrations through which the four main river systems — the Han, Nakdong, Geum and Yeongsan — flow have and will hold a number of festivals to draw visitors, providing a much-needed boost to the sluggish regional economies.

However, the refurbishment project had a rough start in early 2010 as environment groups and opposition parties strongly opposed it. They argued that the 22.2-trillion-won ($20 billion) scheme is designed to provide undue favors to engineering and construction companies struggling with sluggish business after the global financial crisis in late 2008.

The opponents also claimed that the project would destroy the environment and pave the way for the government to later build a controversial cross-country canal, one of President Lee Myung-bak’s campaign pledges.

They even took the case to courts across the country in a bid to stop the government from pushing ahead with the plan. But courts ruled in favor of the state, clearing the way for the four-river refurbishment scheme to continue.

During this year’s rainy season, the project was proven to be effective in preventing floods in the four-river systems.

“We had heavier rainfalls this summer, compared to previous years. But thanks to the restoration work designed to dredge the river bottoms, reinforce the levees and build weirs, flood damage in the four major rivers were minimal,” said an official at the Office of National River Restoration, affiliated with the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

Boon to economy

He said the large-scale public work has and will help secure water resources, enhance water quality, control floods and droughts, and create water-based leisure infrastructures.

“The project will renew and revitalize 929 kilometers of Korea’s entire national river system. It will also help protect the environment, create jobs and further boost economic growth for municipal economies. In 2012, we will restore 10,000 kilometers of local streams and more than 39 wetlands,” the official said.

With the restoration work nearing completion, the government is making more efforts to transform the four rivers into a popular tourism spot.

“As Koreans become richer, they seek more high-quality leisure activities. Many of them have been heading overseas for them, spending billions of dollars. Our purpose is to provide clean natural settings equipped with state-of-the-art and environment-friendly tourism infrastructures, encouraging more people to travel domestically,” an official at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said.

He said the government has been building extensive bicycle and trekking paths along the river banks, adding municipal administrations have been holding diverse festivals and other events to attract visitors.

“When the river refurbishment plan comes to an end by the end of 2011, the four rivers will become a new hot tourist attraction. We will continue to improve the areas and introduce a range of promotional activities to let the public know about them,” the official said.

Among others, a 1,692 kilometer-long bicycle path connecting all four-major rivers will be completed by the end of November.