Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Ukrainian delegation visits K-water for post-war reconstruction cooperation
Volodymyr Remeniak, second from right, the mayor of Ukraine's western city of Horodok in Lviv Oblast, and the Ukrainian reconstruction cooperation delegation pose with K-water officials at the Sihwa Tidal Power Plant in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. Courtesy of K-water
By Lee Hae-rin
A Ukrainian delegation focused on reconstruction cooperation inspected urban development projects belonging to the Korea Water Resources Corp. (K-water), such as eco-friendly power plants, Tuesday, to shed light on how the war-torn country might be able to apply learnings here to the post-war recovery of Ukraine.
According to the state-run water management company, the delegation consisting of Volodymyr Remeniak, the mayor of Ukraine’s western city of Horodok in Lviv Oblast, visited the Sihwa Tidal Power Plant in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.
The power plant built by K-water in 2011 along Korea’s western coast is the largest tidal power installation in the world, supplying electricity to a population of 500,000. Its introduction helped to cut down petroleum imports by 862,000 barrels and the generation of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 315,000 tons per year.
Volodymyr Remeniak, left, second row, the mayor of Ukraine's western city of Horodok in Lviv Oblast, and the Ukrainian reconstruction cooperation delegation inspect the Sihwa Tidal Power Plant observatory in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province with K-water officials, Tuesday. Courtesy of K-water
The visit preceded the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) scheduled for Wednesday, regarding technical cooperation with K-water for Ukraine’s post-war urban development and water management in Horodok City and Lviv Oblast.
The delegation also visited K-water’s environmentally friendly tourism and leisure complex called Songsan Green City and the AI-based smart water treatment plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province.
K-water is the first Korean public institution to have joined the government’s reconstruction support projects for Ukraine, dubbed as One Team Korea, last July.
Once the war is over, the company will take charge and implement smart city technologies in the Uman area in central Ukraine and restore the damaged Kakhovka Dam along the Dnieper River.
The delegation’s visit and MOU are part of follow-up measures related to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s visit to the war-torn country on July 15, 2023.
At the time, Yoon agreed with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy to provide a comprehensive package of security, humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to Ukraine’s National Recovery Plan.
The reconstruction and recovery of the war-torn country is estimated to cost $411 billion and is expected to take over a decade, according to the latest joint assessment by the Ukrainian government, the World Bank, the European Commission and the United Nations, released last March on the anniversary of the war on Feb. 24, 2023.