[Editorial] Bitter Lesson from Sapae-san Tunnel

Construction that was interrupted for 25 months has resumed, fortunately, since a Buddhist association approved the Sapae-san Tunnel and President Roh Mu-hyun finally showed his leadership. However, the confusion surrounding the Sapae-san Tunnel resulted in not only an enormous loss of civic expenses, but also a bitter lesson.

Above all, it was wrong for President Roh to pledge the cancellation of the Sapae-san Tunnel during his campaign in order to win the presidential election. “I just found out that only a tunnel section remained to be completed after my inauguration.” This confession confirmed that President Roh voluntarily admitted that the election pledge was promised without scrutiny. A delay of construction due to the unclear attitude of an administration influenced by a Buddhist association, environmentalist movement and presidential election pledges brought a civic loss of about $54 billion paid for by the country. Who is responsible for the loss and how is it to be dealt with?

The actions of the environmental movement were also problematic. The environmentalists should have raised the issue in the process of collecting public opinion on a national policy plan. It is difficult for them to arouse public opinion if they just seek to disturb the final stage of construction without any objection during several years of construction in which government spent a huge sum.

Two commotions regarding two cases, the Kyung-Pu express railway construction due to the Pusan Kumjung-san route alternation and the Saemankum plan’s suspension with the 92 percent completion of a tide embankment, are similar examples. One should take this opportunity to think about whether or not it is right to oppose the construction of an atomic power plant, especially one that relies on atomic power generation for 40 percent of electric-power production without proposing an alternative plan.

It is essential to listen carefully to the Bosung priest who joined with the environmental associations’ movement, saying, “The blind ways of the environmental movement should be changed now. I am shocked by environmentalists’ misconduct. I couldn’t leave a spot where we had a demonstration because I was afraid of the environmentalists’ blind objections.” What does the priest’s exhortation convey? A rotating express highway of the national capital region with an enormous budget cannot be left as an incomplete highway.