South Chungcheong Gov. Ahn Hee-jung and four-river project

South Chungcheong Gov. Ahn Hee-jung and four-river project. October. 24, 2015 07:13. pisong@donga.com.

Korea`s characteristic monsoon climate should bring a rainy season and a typhoon at least once a year. However, this year`s rainy season and typhoons missed the Korean Peninsula, causing a severe drought in the Chungcheong region. It had the lowest precipitation in 40 years. Elderly people in the region also say that they have never suffered such a severe drought since they were born. The Yedang Reservoir has revealed its bottom, while the Boryeong Dam is projected to completely dry up by March 2016. Due to the previous administration`s four river project, the Geumgang River is full of water.

When Ahn Hee-jung, governor of South Chungcheong Province, was running for the position in 2010, he urged the government to stop the four-river project and spend the money for education and welfare. In a sense, it seemed natural for one of the closest aides to former progressive President Roh Moo-hyun to oppose the conservative President Lee Myung-bak`s signature four-river development project. Now, he has decided to use the water from one of the four rivers after a long drought. He has asked the central government to build a 25-kilometer pipeline between the Baekje Dam on the Geumgang River to the Boryeong Dam, before calling for the construction of a 30-kilometer pipeline linking the Gongju Dam on the Geumgang River to the Yedang Reservoir. Necessity reveals the truth.

Having water somewhere in a severe drought is much better than a situation in which desperate people have nothing else to do but praying for rain. Critics of the four-river project said that what the country was going to do with the water that could not be tapped in emergencies. One of the critics is thinking about building pipelines to use the water, putting such a criticism to a shame. It is regrettable that why the government failed to develop tributaries of the four major rivers.

The controversies over the four-river project are a déjà vu. The projects to build the Seoul-Busan Expressway and Pohang Iron and Steel Corporation had also faced strong opposition, only to be assessed as "successful" in later years. People often fail to see what is coming and make choices they will regret in the future. Therefore, to err is human. Some people remain adamantly opposed to something till the last to contradict themselves while some others admit their wrong judgment after facing the reality. Ahn should be the latter one to aim for a higher position.