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2009 TV appearance where he claimed to have scrapped plans for the Grand Korean Waterway due to a lack of public consensus. (Blue House photo pool)

By Kim Jung-soo, senior staff writer

It has been discovered that when designing his Four Major Rivers Project, former President Lee Myung-bak (MB) did in fact intend to again attempt to promote the Grand Korean Waterway, an election plan of his that failed to gain public support.

His administration officially denied such claims at that time, arguing, “the Grand Korean Waterway is clearly different from Four Major Rivers Project”. New evidence shows the government was lying at that time.

In the early stages of construction companies bidding on the government project, price fixing was common through fake bids. These irregularities were also found in the second stage of bidding and in bidding for the sewage treatment plant building project.

The Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea (BAIK) released findings from its audit of key business contracts for the Four Major Rivers Project on July 10. The report specifically covers all alleged collusion and illegal bidding based on its intensive investigation of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MLIT) and Fair Trade Commission between January and March.

MB officially scrapped his plans for the Grand Korean Waterway in June 2008. According to BAIK’s report, the Blue House said in February 2009, “The Grand Korean Waterway project can always be restarted depending on public opinion and social trends, so we always need to be prepared for the possibility”. MLIT made a master plan of the Four Major Rivers Project in response to the Blue House’s directive.

The plan by MLIT stated that dredging 2.5m of the four rivers would be enough to prepare any future plans for Grand Korean Waterway through some extra dredging. But the Blue House insisted on dredging 6m.

This shows that MB hadn’t given up on his waterway project.

On June 29, 2009 Lee Myung-bak emphasized that the Four Major Rivers Project could never be the same as the waterway project during his regular radio address. He said, “I still believe that the waterway project is essential for the future of Korea. I have had this in my mind since even before I decided to become a politician”.

The BAIK’s report reiterated that the Four Major Rivers Project was made possible by Lee Myung-bak, who never gave up on his personal objective. It was his initiative that began this project for his benefit but it was his obstinacy that allowed the project to be completed.

Apparently Lee declared several times that he would drop his plan for the waterway project, after a wave of candlelight protests in 2008 which critically shook his political grounding. In his June 29 radio address he said, “Regarding the Four Major Rivers Project, my heart was broken whenever I was asked if I would just change the title and continue with something that was pretty much the same as the waterway project, or whether it would just increase construction companies profits by taking 20 trillion won from taxpayers’ pockets. It was very sad and regretful to learn how little trust the public had in the government. I have no plans to push forward with the project during my presidency”.

However, according to the BAIK’s report, four months before Lee made these comments, he had given an order to the MLIT to made the Grand Korean Waterway preliminary plan. The MLIT had already discarded its original December 2008 proposal by that time, and unveiled its new master plan for the Four Major Rivers Project, which included dredging 6m instead of 2.5m.

Lee also appeared on TV on Nov. 27, 2009 and denied any doubts that the Four Major Rivers Project would actually be the same as the waterway project. He again emphasized, “The Grand Korean Waterway was one of my main presidential pledges and I wanted to be responsible for people’s expectations of me. However, it seemed as if people have changed their mind about the project since then, and I think I need follow public consensus on this matter”.

However, it turned out the former president had great pride in Four Major Rivers Project, as he regarded it as a stepping-stone for the waterway project. He revealed his intentions to people around him before the end of his term. The former president invited more than 20 people involved in the project to the Blue House to express gratitude for their contributions. Among the attendees Sim Myeong-pil - former director of the Four Major Rivers Project Steering Committee and current Inha University professor - and other key figures from MLIT, Ministry of Environment, and Korea Water Resources Corporation.

One of the attendees said, “At the banquet, Lee said, ‘I first took the initiative of the waterway project when I was elected as a lawmaker. I never imagined I could start the project as I have over the last few years.’ It was also surprising to hear him say, ‘I have almost completed the layout construction, so the only thing left for the next president is to complete it by constructing lock gates’.”

The former director of the steering committee, Sim, is the core person behind the scene of this river restoration project. He always insisted that the Four Major Rivers Project was in no way related to the waterway project. At a press conference Sim held to dispute the opposition party‘s doubts over the Four Major Rivers Project on October 28, 2010, he said, “It is childish for the opposition party to keep arguing it could be converted and used for the waterway project in the future, even if I have continued to say that it is not the case”.

Former MLIT Minister Jeong Jong-hwan also insisted obstinately that there was no relation between the two projects, even after the revised master plan for the former MLIT Minister was determined.

At a workshop for directors of public institutions involved in the Four Major Rivers Project on June 23 2009, Jeong said, “There are some people expressing doubts over our Four Major Rivers Project is as coincidental as it looks or if there might be a connection between it and the waterway project. However, it is clear that the government has no intention to push ahead with the waterway”.

In a radio interview with Christian Broadcasting Station on April 5 2010, former Environment Minister Lee Man-eui, said, “Both from pragmatic and technical points of view and considering the actual project details, there would be no way that this can be turned into a waterway project”.

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