Seoul-Busan Grand Canal

Task force head Chang said the project is eco-friendly and has many economic benefits

"Wait five years, then you will be able to sail on the Korean Peninsula Grand Canal,"said Chang Seok-ho, head of the canal project team of the Presidential Transition Committee in a recent interview.
Former Deputy Mayor of Seoul Chang said he is waiting for the order from President-elect Lee Myung-bak to go ahead with the project, with all preparations in order.
The task force team head said it will take about a year to take care of the administrative side of the preparations and in early 2009 the historic work on the grand canal will take place. It is scheduled for completion around the time President-elect Lee's five year-term is up.
He said the cost will total between 14 trillion won and 16 trillion won and about 1.5 trillion won each for the Yongsan River Honam Canal and the Kum River Chungcheong Canal. The Ministry of Construction and Transportation has estimated that it will cost some 20 trillion won to build river banks and complete reclamation work around the country by 2015, Chang said.
The work to be done before the launch of construction includes an environmental survey on the projected canal, which will be some 500 km long, and public relations work to help the public understand the benefits of building such a canal, along with an outline of the work to be involved.
"The country should know it is not a difficult project as the main job involves linking the Han and Naktong rivers that cut through the peninsula. And the benefits, especially the economic benefits, will be incalculable,"Chang said.
He said the work will commence simultaneously on all segments of the canal and therefore, it will not take such a long time to complete. He said the public was misled during the presidential campaign, adding that the public relations work on the canal should begin as soon as possible.
Chang said it is also eco-friendly. As the construction progresses, the ecology in the two long rivers will be restored. The work to attract private investment in the canal should begin immediately with extensive investor relations sessions at home and abroad to help potential investors understand the profits to be generated by the canal, especially through the fees to be charged on cargo transported through the canal and the tourist income from the people who will flock to the long, scenic waterway.
The canal task force is expected to encourage the builders and investors to form consortiums and participate in the public bidding. The task force will then evaluate the letters of intent submitted by the consortiums and select the priority bidder before the final selection of the bidder who will undertake the great project.
Chang said many construction firms have shown great interest in the canal project because it is a domestic project and they won't have to spend money to send technicians to project sites abroad. Investors, too, won't have to go overseas to evaluate the project they may decide to fund.
Chang revealed that a fund based in Dubai has shown interest in making an investment in the canal project and an MOU is expected to be signed around the time of the inauguration of the President-elect at the end of next month. He is confident of attracting private investment in the canal project.
He went on to say that many construction firms are interested in the project, but they have been quiet during the election. He said about 40 percent of the cost could come from selling pebbles during the process of construction and the income, including rentals from 18 cargo wharfs and 50 passenger terminals along the canal, should be enough to make the canal project a winning venture.
The task force chief seems to have the Choryong terminal plan in mind when it comes to making a choice between the terminal and the skyline from the Chungju Lake project in the work to link the Han and Naktong rivers.
Chang said the Seoul-Busan canal will be built with private investment, but the projects to build the Yongsan River Honam Canal and the Kum River Chungcheong Canal will be built with government funds, enabling the work on those projects to begin earlier than the work on the Seoul-Busan canal.
According to estimates by the MOCT, some 1.5 million TEU of containers were handled at Korea's ports in 2005 and the number will expand to 4.7 million TEU by 2020. The ministry estimated some 1.8 million TEU of containers are to be delivered to the Seoul area, or 49,000 TEUs daily. A TEU is a 20-foot equivalent unit, or one standard shipping container.
Chang said the main work of the construction of the Seoul-Busan canal and linking it with the Yongsan and Kum rivers will not be such a difficult job. nw

Chief Chang Seok-ho of the Task Force Team for the Seoul-Busan Grand Canal project.