Naju-si Holds the 1st Meeting of the Yeongsangang Committee

[Naju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong] Jeonnam Naju City (Mayor Kang In-gyu) announced on the 25th that it held the ‘Yeongsan River Committee 1st Meeting’ at the city hall's large conference room to establish a comprehensive plan for the ecological restoration of the Yeongsan River.

The meeting was attended by Mayor Kang In-gyu, Professor Jeon Seung-su of the Department of Earth Environmental Sciences at Chonnam National University, Choi Song-chun, co-chair of the Mokpo Environmental Movement Federation, Kim Eok-su, chairman of the Geumgang Watershed Environmental Forum, and Park Jong-gi and Lee Jeong-sik, former policy advisory committee members of the National Assembly Environmental Forum.

The ecological restoration of the Yeongsan River is a project aimed at deriving practical alternatives for restoring the Yeongsan River ecosystem, which has suffered serious environmental problems such as algal blooms and water pollution since the construction of the Hagutdduk (tidal barrage) in 1981 blocked the waterway.

Similar to the ongoing national project of opening the Nakdong River Hagutdduk, the core goal is to reflect the Yeongsan River ecological restoration in the next presidential election national agenda and to restore the Yeongsan River to a living, breathing natural environment through the opening of the Mokpo Hagutdduk and seawater circulation.

At the meeting, the Yeongsan River Committee agreed to unite efforts to select detailed tasks such as research services for a comprehensive plan including seawater circulation through the opening of the Yeongsan River Hagutdduk, the formation of a public-private governance encompassing central government ministries, local governments, specialized institutions, academia, and civic groups, and adoption into the next presidential election national agenda.

In particular, the plan is to secure momentum for promoting the restoration of the Yeongsan River as a national agenda for the next presidential election by establishing a cooperative system with seven local governments in the Yeongsan River basin, including Naju City, Mokpo City, Yeongam County, and Muan County, as well as the ‘Yeongsan River Basin Administrative Council’ formed in 1999.

Through solidarity with key experts in the restoration of the Han River, Geum River, and Nakdong River who participated in this Yeongsan River Committee, the plan is to promote the ‘Naju-originated Four Major Rivers Re-naturalization’ initiative.

Mayor Kang In-gyu said, “The issue of ecological restoration of the Yeongsan River is a long-term project that is difficult to achieve results through the efforts of any single city or county alone,” and added, “I officially propose the joint promotion of the Yeongsan River ecological restoration issue by standing shoulder to shoulder with the heads of organizations in the Yeongsan River basin so that the restoration of the Yeongsan River can be reflected in the next presidential election national agenda.”