With parliamentary elections only 15 days away, about 1,800 South Korean
professors launched a coalition Tuesday calling for the country's new president,
Lee Myung-bak, to withdraw his plan to push for a massive cross-national canal.
Lee, a former Seoul mayor and Hyundai construction chief who took office last
month, has pledged to build a 450-kilometer-long canal linking Seoul with Busan,
the nation's second largest city on the south coast, during his single five-year
term.
The canal, which Lee says will help reinvigorate the country's sluggish economy,
is likely to emerge as a major topic in the April 9 elections, as some
disgruntled members of the ruling Grand National Party have recently defected
from the party with vows to challenge the plan.
The main opposition United Democratic Party is also seeking to aggressively
bring up the issue in the race, in an attempt to knock the lead the conservative
GNP currently enjoys in public polls.
"The canal project will not help economic growth, but only destroy the natural
environment and generate confusion and conflict among people," the coalition,
which claims membership of professors from about 70 universities, said in a
statement.
"We hope the politicians running in the elections will take our warning
seriously," said Kim Jong-wook, a geography professor at Seoul National
University who heads the coalition.
Kim said the canal, if constructed, would cause irreparable damage to the
environment of this country of 49 million and eventually fall short of being
completed as it is an economic white elephant.
"Our coalition calls for a nationwide forum on the issue so the people will
understand what negative effects this canal would cause," he said in an
interview.
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