Grand Korean Waterway

Canal between Seoul and Busan, within South Korea

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Grand Korean Waterway

Hangul|

한반도 대운하

Hanja|

韓半島大運河

Revised Romanization| Hanbando Daeunha
McCune–Reischauer| Hanbando Taeunha

The Grand Korean Waterway, officially known as the Pan Korea Grand Waterway, was a proposed 540-kilometer-long (340 mi) canal connecting Seoul and Busan, South Korea's two largest cities. The canal would run diagonally across the country connecting the Han River, which flows through Seoul into the Yellow Sea, to the Nakdong River, which flows through Busan into the Korea Strait. The proposed canal would traverse difficult mountainous terrain.

The Pan Korea Grand Waterway was a project of Lee Myung-bak, the 10th president of South Korea. It met with huge controversy and disapproval[1] and was later abandoned.[2] Lee stated that the canal would bring clear water source by cleaning layers of sediments that formed in the rivers, create tourist infrastructure and prevent disturbance of logistics.[3][4][5]

Many Koreans were anxious about Lee's plans.[6] They argued that the canal would prove disastrous to the natural environment and potentially hazardous to the freshwater sources that nearly 50 million residents of the country depend on. In addition, many researchers and interested distribution industries prospected the canal would be economically unprofitable because land transportation may be more cost-effective.[citation needed]

Supporters of the plan insisted that the length of the construction would only be 40 km, linking the Han River with the Nakdong River. The canal would require sufficient width, depth and height of bridge decks to allow barges passage. Major portions of the Han and Nakdong are far narrower and shallower than is required, with most of the bridges on these rivers being unsuitable as their clearance is too low. The scale of construction would be enormous; a number of bridges would need to be rebuilt and both rivers would require extensive dredging along the 540-kilometer route.[citation needed]

Lee proposed to fund the project almost exclusively through private funds and subsidize it through the sale of sand and gravel dredged from the rivers and streams involved in the project. This dredging would, he argued, also make the rivers cleaner.[7]

The proposal included a smaller canal, planned to link Seoul and neighboring Incheon. It was suggested that this would assist economic partnerships between the two cities, lessen traffic congestion, and stimulate tourism,[6] beyond providing Seoul access to the Yellow Sea (West Sea). The mouth of the Han River is in an area between North Korea and South Korea, which limits economic activity in the region for security reasons.

## See also

[edit]

* Geography of South Korea
* Rivers of Korea
* Ara Canal
* Four Major Rivers Project

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Making a detour?".
2. ^ Sang-Hun, Choe (2009-12-13). "Ambitious Rivers Project Meets a Sea of Opposition". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
3. ^ 인간과 자연, 일터와 쉼터가 어우러지는 21세기 다목적 프로젝트, (21st-Century Multi-Purpose Project for the Harmony of Human and Nature, Job and Rest) - Journal of Environmental Health Sciences / v.36 no.1 = no.112, 2010, pp.72-75 (Report). 2008-02-14.
4. ^ 인간과 자연, 일터와 쉼터가 어우러지는 21세기 다목적 프로젝트, (21st-Century Multi-Purpose Project for the Harmony of Human and Nature, Job and Rest) - Journal of Environmental Health Sciences / v.36 no.1 = no.112, 2010, pp.72-75 (Report). 2008-02-14. |
5. ^ [특집] 물길-한반도 대운하 / Waterway - Grand Canal Korea 건축(대한건축학회지), v.52 n.9(2008-09) (Report). September 2008. |
6. ^ a b Cyranoski, David (2008-03-19). "Korean waterway project gathers opposition". Nature: news.2008.679. doi:10.1038/news.2008.679. ISSN 0028-0836.
7. ^ Sang-Hun, Choe (2008-03-12). "Controversial Canal Tests South Korea's New Leader". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-30.

* "South Korean plans for a grand canal: Savior or folly?", International Herald Tribune, February 20, 2008, (Retrieved February 21, 2008)
* "Canal plan divides Korea", John Sudworth BBC News, Seoul (Retrieved 26 March 2008)
* "President-elect's team speeds up preparations for waterway project ", Korean Overseas Culture and Information Service