Crap! Now I'll never be able to use that headline ever again. President Lee has rooted out his canal idea. Get it? Root... canal... I'm here all week.
President Lee's actual $100-billion Grand Korea Waterway plan would have been about as painful. Truth is, it would have been one of those things that would have been way cool if it had succeeded (loads of technical feats to be accomplished, especially for the 20-kilometer stretch that would be bored through mountains, that could have put South Korea on the engineering map, inspiring "Discovery" program ideas for years to come) But at the same time, it would have, perhaps, come at a huge environmental expense. You see, like actual root canal, it would have involved destroying much of the living, throbbing stuff beneath the surface in order for it to work.
They have roads and high-speed trains doing exactly the same route, I think that makes it even more a waste of money. Also, that canal marks out fairly accurately Korea's regional boundaries, the areas of tension between east and west - surely putting in a new physical boundary isn't the best idea to work towards getting rid of regional tensions/rivalry? I say put in a much shorter canal going from Pusan to Kwangju if you have to have one at all.
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