Opera house and vegetable gardens

Nodeul Island in the middle of the Han River was built on the sand dune in the middle of a bridge in 1917, when Japanese colonial rulers built the Han River Bridge. Until it was given a Korean name, Nodeul was called Jungji Island and was a famous beach with Ttuk Island in Gwangnaru until the 1960s. Seoulites swam in summer and rode a sleigh in winter. The sandy beach disappeared as the Han River was developed from 1968. A tennis court was built for soldiers and high-ranking officials after the island was reclaimed for expansion in 1973. Nodeul was no longer a place for the people.

Many efforts have failed to bring the island back to the people since 1980. A number of ideas were proposed -- a ferry dock in 1983, a hotel in 1986, and a park in 1989 -– but the tennis court remains in place. When Lee Myung-bak was Seoul mayor in 2004, he proposed construction of an opera house on the island. The French architect Jean Nouvel proposed a blueprint but this was not adopted at the last minute because of cost. In 2010, then Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon set up a new plan after many twists and turns.

Incumbent Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon has overhauled the plan again. His alternative is vegetable gardens instead of an opera house. His humble taste is understandable but vegetable gardens sound like a town mayor’s idea. How many gardens can be made on the island? How many Seoul residents can benefit from vegetable gardens if they are sold to more than 10 million Seoulites. Park must have forgotten that Seoul competes against Tokyo and Beijing, as London and Paris compete in Europe as mega cities.

Yeouido Park at Seoul`s Yeouido Plaza, the idea of former Seoul Mayor Cho Soon, was too simple. On land that is larger than Beijing`s Tiananmen Square, he could have made a nicer park like New York’s Central Park and London’s Hyde Park. Another former Seoul mayor, Goh Kun, built subway lines five through eight and Lee restored Cheonggye Stream. Incumbent mayor Park, who came up with creative ideas such as the Beautiful Foundation and the Hope Institute, could think up of better ideas than an opera house. Otherwise, how about turning the island into a park that will attract many visitors instead of nonsensical vegetable gardens?

Editorial Writer Song Pyeong-in (pisong@donga.com)