On Monday the Ministry of Culture and Tourism released development plans for the southwestern coastal region, and it looks like it will lead people who have long been left out of the benefits of development to have expectations. Having seen the all too serious trials and errors in projects such as Lake Sihwa, Saemangeum, and the high speed train, we would like to ask that prudence be applied in the process of pursuing development projects, particularly those that are large and ambitious.
The ministry has made a passive interpretation to the "tourism deficit," which it cites as one of the reasons there is a need for its proposal. The balance of payments for Korean tourism has so far been determined by the amount Koreans spend on tourism overseas. The situation is what it is because the Korea National Tourism Organization (KNTO), which maintains 25 offices in 16 countries, has virtually given up on getting more foreign tourists to visit the country. Global tourism trends are turning to more wholesome themes such as nature and culture. New Zealand, for example, is a country with a highly developed tourism industry. It's themeline for tourism is "100% Pure New Zealand," and it does all it can to promote its natural environment, by among other things providing the shooting location for the film "Lord of the Rings." Korea can call the southwestern region being a "Four Season Blessing from Heaven" all it wants, but it will never be able to compete with the unique climatic characteristics of places like Southeast Asia, the South Pacific, and Scandinavia. The answer lies in the saying, "That which is most Korean is the most global." The nature international tourists come to see has to be nature you'll only find in Korea, but that it of interest to people from other countries.
Sure enough, the ministry's development plans for the southwestern coastal region focuses on what it says is "approximately 2,000 islands and 7,000 kilometers of world-class ria coast." It must not be forgotten, however, that bringing in massive private domestic and foreign investment gets followed up with the giving of various preferential benefits and environmental destruction. We hope that the nature of the southwestern coast, which is indeed simultaneously "that which is most Korean and global," is not turned into a massive leisure area that just as well could be "anywhere," built of cement buildings using major capital concerns. It should be remembered that foreign tourists stopped going to the Moses-style "parting of the seas" natural phenomenon at Jin Island long ago and that the Dasan Chodang got turned into a massive tile-roofed structure, so some of the most distinguished tourist spots of the southwestern coast are already suffering the damage of development.
The Hankyoreh, 18 January 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Be Careful With Southwest Coast Development |
