Mixed views on ROK river plan

SEOUL: The Republic of Korea (ROK) launched an ambitious and costly project this week to overhaul its four major rivers in a way the government says will be a model for green growth but conservationists say will do far more harm than good.

President Lee Myung-bak, a former CEO of Hyundai construction, has been campaigning globally to show his country as an environmental industry leader, with the four-rivers project at the center of his plans to reshape Asia's fourth largest economy.

Critics said the project is more about local politics, aimed at creating jobs in rural areas that will provide crucial votes for Lee's conservative camp in the ROK's next presidential election in 2012, which is when construction is due to end.