On Thursday the Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit that would have stopped the project at Saemangeum, saying there was no basis for doing so. Subsequently it becomes much more likely the world's most perfect tidal flats, given to us by nature over millions of years, is going to disappear forever. God gave Korea a beautiful cloth of life, but Korea has decided to shred it and use it as a dustcloth.
Looking back, we should not have put our hope in the law. How can the law judge the value of life and of beauty, and how can it predict the disaster that comes tomorrow when you destroy life today? We humans live with one foot in reality and the other in possibility, but the law stands entirely in reality.
The Supreme Court looked only at the past, and asked only whether there had been any profound reason why the government's plans should be changed. The profound reason, however, is going to show up when the tidal flats begin to die out and lake starts to decay because water cannot move freely, and when the land that is so created suddenly turns into an industrial area instead of farmland. Experience tells you that it what is to be expected, but what can the law do about it then? When Lake Sihwa became the "lake of death," no one was held responsible and no one tried to hold anyone accountable. A "company town" is being built on the land reclaimed at Cheonsu Bay, which was initially made into farmland.
The problem lies with the politicians, who decided to start the whole ruinous project in order to win votes, and with government officials who are working as one with contractors to see it through. Because of them, Saemangeum will experience a repeat of the tragedy that happened at Sihwa and Yeongsan. Feeling frustrated, Supreme Court justices issued a supplementary opinion in which they said it needs to be determined whether the project is truly going to help economic development and whether it is environmentally friendly or not.
And so we earnestly appeal that Saemangeum has to be a model for coexistence between man and nature, and between different forms of life. The authorities need to work with academia and social and civic groups to find some alternatives. It has taken fifteen years. Let us take our time.
The Hankyoreh, 17 March 2006.
[Translations by Seoul Selection]
[Editorial] Judges Recommend 'Environmentally-Friendly' Development |
