SEOUL (UCAN) - After Catholics led by Wonju diocese opposed South Korea's plan to construct a dam, the country's president has said that the plan may be shelved.
President Kim Dae-jung said recently in a joint interview for local television stations in Kangwon province that he was "seriously considering whether the Tonggang (Tong river) dam needs to be constructed."
A final decision will be made in a "scientific way through consultation between the government, civic groups and environmentalists in the not-so-distant future," Kim said. This was the first time that the president has aired his views on the controversial dam project in Yongwol, Kangwon, 160 kilometers southeast of Seoul, which many environmental groups and religious communities have opposed.
Wonju diocese's Committee for Justice and Peace presented a petition to the president Aug. 12 urging a quick decision to cancel the dam project. It began the signature campaign in December 1998.
The petition, signed by more than 70,000 Catholics nationwide - 65,430 laity, 4,562 Religious, 609 clergy - also urged the Catholic president to enact a special law to preserve the Tonggang's natural environment.
Father Barnabas Kim Young-jin, president of the Justice and Peace Committee of Wonju diocese, which covers Yongwol county, told UCA News Aug. 24 that he welcomed Kim's personal opinion on the dam project.
He urged concerned authorities to review the dam plan by respecting public opinion and the president's view, rather than insisting the construction of the dam is the only means to solve the water shortage problem.
Kim said in the interview that "there might be alternative ways like reducing tap water consumption."
UCAN 30. august 1999