On the 5th, 200 civic groups formed an organization calling for the "renaturalization" of the four major rivers by dismantling weirs (洑) or opening their sluice gates. They also urged the government to fully halt climate response dam plans and withdraw river dredging plans, in addition to renaturalizing the four major rivers.
The "National Action for Restoring the Naturalness of the Four Major Rivers" (hereafter National Action) held a press conference in front of the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 5th and urged the Lee Jae-myung administration to push policies to restore the naturalness of the four major rivers. The group includes the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement and the "Citizen Action for Weir Removal on the Geum River, Nakdong River and Yeongsan River," among 200 civic groups and 1,019 activists, and was launched that day.
In its launch declaration, the group said, "The Lee Jae-myung administration put renaturalizing the four major rivers forward as its No. 1 pledge in the environmental field and finalized it as a state task," adding, "We must move toward restoring the rivers to secure the public's water safety."
It continued, "Building on the five years of achievements in renaturalizing the four major rivers under the Moon Jae-in administration, we must carry out practical restoration of the four major rivers," and said, "If our rivers are again used as tools of political strife and dragged along as empty promises, we will firmly criticize the government and fight."
The group demanded that the government: secure a budget for improving Nakdong River intake and water drawing facilities; restore the original handling plan for the Geum River and Yeongsan River weirs; prepare and implement handling plans for the Han River and Nakdong River weirs by 2027; restore and push the principle of naturalness restoration in the 2020–2030 National Water Management Basic Plan; fully halt the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's climate response dam plans; and withdraw river management plans centered on large-scale dredging.
Earlier, in Jan. 2021 under the Moon Jae-in administration, the Presidential Water Commission decided to dismantle Sejong Weir and Gongju Weir on the Geum River and Juksan Weir on the Yeongsan River, and to keep Baekje Weir on the Geum River and Seungchon Weir on the Yeongsan River permanently open. The body canceled the weir handling plans in Aug. 2023 under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. The basis was a Board of Audit and Inspection finding that the cost-benefit analysis related to the weir handling plans was unreasonable.
In relation to this, Minister Kim Seong-hwan of the Climate and Environment Ministry visited the Sejong Weir site on the Geum River on Sept. 11, where environmental groups such as the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement and the Citizen Action for Weir Removal have been staging a sit-in for 500 days, and said, "We will not close the sluice gates at Sejong Weir." He added, "The Yoon Suk-yeol administration's decision to cancel the 'handling plans for the Geum River and Yeongsan River weirs' was hasty, and we will prepare a plan for renaturalizing the four major rivers as soon as possible."
At a National Assembly audit on the 29th of last month, Minister Kim said regarding plans to renaturalize the four major rivers, "We will make a decision with reference to the judgments made under the Moon Jae-in administration."
Meanwhile, Sejong City filed a police complaint on the 4th against environmental groups staging a sit-in near Sejong Weir with tents, on suspicion of illegal river occupation (violation of the River Act). Sejong Weir has kept its sluice gates fully open since Jan. 2018.
Sejong City said, "Demanding the dismantling of Sejong Weir, we notified the environmental groups that are unlawfully occupying a national river to stage a sit-in three times between September and October of the prior notice of restoration to original state, the hearing of opinions, and the final order to remove," adding that it filed the complaint because the groups did not comply.
In response, the "Citizen Action for Weir Removal on the Geum River, Nakdong River and Yeongsan River" said, "We condemn Sejong Mayor Choi Min-ho for intimidating civil society."