Seoul Mayor Continues to Advocate Seoul to Pusan Canal

Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak continues to advocate a Seoul to Pusan canal:

Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak Sunday continued to endorse his idea of building a massive cross-country waterway that connects the northern and southern rivers of South Korea.

“Many journalists questioned me at the conference at Kwanhun Club last week on why I keep commenting on the building of the Kyongbu Canal. However, it’s a simple fact that many cities around the world were benefited by making the best use of their rivers and seas,’’ said Lee during a news conference held at the Chongju Art Center in Chongju, North Chungchong Province.

Mayor Lee has been pushing his trans-Korean canal project idea more publicly since the recent success of his Cheongyecheon Stream project in Seoul. The proposed canal would be approximately 20 kilometers long and would connect the Han River that runs through Seoul with the Naktong River that runs through Pusan.

I haven’t heard much about what the feasibility of the idea is, but what I like about Mayor Lee is that he continues to focus on the future of Korea instead of being weighed down by past history and empty slogans so envogue today in Korean politics. Korea still has the potential to do great things and Mayor Lee sees this. The canal idea is more than a construction project; it is also a project that will create jobs and unite national will instead of the nation wide ideology divisions you see today.