"Living with Nuclear Power for 40 Years, Now Another Waste Landfill?" Oh Gyuseok, Gijang County Governor, Continues Solo Protest Against Jang-an-eup Landfill Project

Gijang-gun, Endangered Species Golidorongnyong Also Found at Project Site

On the 11th and 12th, County Governor Oh Gyuseok Conducts Consecutive Solo Rain Protests

On the 12th, Oh Gyu-seok, the mayor of Gijang-gun, is holding a solo protest in front of Busan City Hall. [Image source=Gijang-gun]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] “We have lived with nuclear power plants for over 40 years. And now they want to build a large waste landfill?”

On the 12th, Busan’s Gijang-gun issued a statement expressing its “strong opposition” to the Jang-an-eup waste landfill development project plan.

Gijang-gun Mayor Oh Gyu-seok said in the statement, “The 176,000 residents of Gijang-gun and the county itself have endured sacrifices living with the Kori Nuclear Power Plant for over 40 years, including dealing with low- and high-level radioactive waste for the sake of national power supply.”

Mayor Oh stated, “If the 60,000-pyeong waste landfill project is promoted as a private development rather than a public one, it would grant enormous benefits to private operators, and I have even faced external persuasion and pressure.”

Mayor Oh asserted that he rejects the project itself with the resolve of “You might as well cut off the mayor’s head.”

According to Gijang-gun, a few years ago, the Busan Research Institute’s 2nd Natural Environment Survey report confirmed the habitat of the internationally endangered Kori Salamander in the area planned for the waste landfill project.

Mayor Oh made clear his opposition by saying, “Installing a waste landfill in a pristine natural environment is unthinkable.”

Following a one-person protest against the Jang-an-eup waste landfill installation in the rain on the 11th, Gijang-gun Mayor Oh Gyu-seok continued the protest on the 12th at the Busan City Hall plaza.