Lee hails Han River canal opening

President Lee Myung-bak celebrated the opening of a waterway linking the Han River running through Seoul to the Yellow Sea, saying the canal will not only help prevent flooding in nearby areas, but also serve as a key transportation route and a tourist attraction.

The “Ara” waterway, stretching 18 kilometers, connects the Han River at the western end of Seoul to the Yellow Sea off the port city of Incheon. The 2.25 trillion won ($1.9 billion) project was completed after two years of construction that began in 2009.

The waterway construction had originally started in the early 1990s to prevent flooding in nearby low-lying areas, but the project came to a halt later due to the lack of economic feasibility and concerns about its environmental impacts.

The government of President Lee resumed the project in 2009 for multiple purposes, including securing a key cargo transportation route and turning the areas along the canal into a tourist attraction as well as its original aim of preventing floods.

Officials estimate the canal, 80 meters wide and 6.3 meters deep, will be used to transport 930,000 tons of shipping containers, 10 million tons of sand, 60,000 vehicles and 570,000 tons of steel products annually.

It is also expected to transport some 630,000 passengers a year, they say. (Yonhap)