Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo proposed building levees and securing riverside land to prevent flooding of the Nakdong River, unveiling a plan to pursue the project as a key initiative for balanced development between the city's east and west. He also ordered ecological restoration of the Dongcheon stream, measures for water sources, and a review of major park projects launched by the previous administration, signaling a broad overhaul of urban space policy.
At a work report held at Busan City Hall on Wednesday, Jeon said, "We must build levees on the Nakdong River, which floods when it rains heavily, to return it to citizens and use it as a powerful tool to close the east-west gap." He instructed the Nakdong River Management Headquarters to review the feasibility of building natural levees and the project costs together with the Busan Research Institute.
"The Han River in Seoul is a public space where festivals and cultural events are held, but the Nakdong River has a fundamental limitation in that facilities cannot be properly built because of flooding," he said. "No matter how much it costs, we must review a plan to build levees on the Nakdong River like the Netherlands to secure riverside land."
Regarding Dongcheon, an urban stream where problems of odor and water quality have not been resolved, he called for ecological restoration. "Dongcheon is where the dark side of the industrialization era was hidden by covering it with concrete," Jeon said. "We must consider a plan to remove the covered sections and restore it into a nature-friendly ecological stream."
He also emphasized resolving the water source issue, a long-standing challenge for Busan. "The green algae problem in the Nakdong River keeps recurring, but citizens are growing increasingly despairing over the water issue," he said. "Rather than finding reasons why something can't be done, we must boldly pursue possible alternatives."
He made clear his policy of reviewing major projects pursued by the previous administration. He ordered that the parks development projects at Igidae and Dalmaji be decided on whether to proceed after closely examining their feasibility, and regarding the operation of a zoo requiring about 50 billion won in acquisition costs alone, he said, "It must not become a money-eating hippo," instructing officials to prepare a specialized model unique to Busan.
He also signaled a change in the way work reports are conducted. "There is no reason not to disclose to citizens the administrative materials that senior officials report," Jeon said, asking officials to review a plan to disclose the report materials on the live broadcast screen starting from the next meeting. The work report was broadcast live online.
