“80% of Gongju citizens oppose the dismantling of Gongjubo”
– When the government announced a plan to demolish Sejongbo and Gongjubo on the 18th, residents of Gongju and the Sejong region are protesting.
A placard against the dismantling of Gongju Bo is hung in Gongju City, Chungnam. Freelancer Seongtae Kim
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According to the Presidential Commission on National Water Management on the 19th, the Geumgang Sejongbo and the Yeongsangang Juksanbo were completely dismantled, and the Gongjubo was partially dismantled while maintaining the upper bridge, the highway bridge. In addition, the Geumgang Baekjebo and the Yeongsangang Seungchonbo were always open.
In response, the residents of Gongju area responded, “80% of Gongju residents are opposed to the dismantling of security. Can the government ignore local residents in this way?” In a poll conducted by Gongju City in July 2019, 78.4% of citizens answered that “we should keep Gongjubo as it is now.” In addition, the Gongju City Council at that time also voted against the dismantling of the security.
Kim Mo, a citizen of Gongju, argued, “Only when Gongjubo is maintained, Gongsanseong, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, can function as a tourism resource.” did.
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View of Gongjubo. Central photo
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Residents are also concerned that if Gongjubo is partially dismantled, there will be problems with the safety of the bridge passing through it. It is argued that if the beams constructed with enormous taxation are dismantled with tax again, it will be a huge loss to both the national and local residents. Yun Eung-jin (57), Pyeongmok-ri, Wooseong-myeon, Gongju-si, said, “Is Chungcheong-do residents making the decision to dismantle because they can’t even touch the Nakdong River and the Han River?”
Yoon Lee also said, “We cannot hold large-scale rally due to the effects of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19), but we will gather residents’ opinions and campaign against decommissioning in any way.”
Rep. Jeong Jin-suk “Dismantling the news is a huge waste of taxes”
– Rep. Jeong Jin-suk (the power of the people), whose district is Gongju, issued a statement and said, “The decision to dismantle Gongjubo by the Moon Jae-in regime was a cowardly and irresponsible decision to dismantle. The decision to destroy only the words’bizarre’ comes out.”
“January 18, 2021 will be recorded as a stain in our history,” said Rep. Chung. “It is clear that the Geumgang water system residents and Chungcheong people cannot accept the decision of the National Water Management Committee at all.” In addition, he added, “The owners of Geumgang are local residents and farmers who have lived and cooked rice with Geumgang water for generations, not from the central government and environmental organizations.”
Sejong citizens are also protesting. Citizen Choi Young-rak said, “It is nonsense to shout to build an administrative capital while dismantling Sejongbo, the core infrastructure of Sejong City.”
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An elk is playing in the Geumgang River, which was drained by the opening of Sejongbo. Freelancer Seongtae Kim
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Sejong City “Prepare measures to restore the natural nature of the Geumgang River”
– The municipality where Bo is located showed a somewhat delayed expression of its official position. Sejong City said, “As announced last year, we will dismantle the beam, but the timing will be decided in consideration of the outcome of the natural recovery initiative and local conditions, and we are in consultation.” “The natural nature of the Geum River with the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Land, and Korea Water Resources Corporation. We have entered the process to come up with a recovery plan.” In addition, Gongju City said, “This decision to partially dismantle while maintaining the public road is nothing new.”
The Daejeon Chungnam Green Association welcomed the decision to decommission in terms of natural recovery, but expressed regret for the fact that the timing of the decommissioning was not clearly nailed because it considers local conditions.
On November 13, 2017, the Moon Jae-in administration partially opened the Geum River, Youngsan River and Nakdong River, including Sejongbo, saying, “We will restore the natural nature of the river and prevent pollution.” Among them, Sejongbo and Gongjubo were opened one after another in January and March of the following year.
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The Geumgang River near Sejongbo, where the water was drained. Freelancer Seongtae Kim
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Sejongbo has been neglected until now after opening the floodgate. There is no water in the river, so it looks desolate. Instead of a fish, an elk is running. A large concrete structure (beam) with a length of 348m crossing the river has turned into a dreadlock. The sluice control facilities all over Bo are left unattended. The construction of Sejongbo and Gongjubo spent 128.8 billion won and 2136 billion won respectively. An additional KRW 81.6 billion is expected to be expended for the dismantling of the three boulders, including Juksanbo.
Sejong·Gongju = Reporter Kim Bang-hyun [email protected]
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