The Chaebol Returns To The Presidency 1967 [EN]: Chapter 57

57. Development and Environment, Going Together

“The afforestation project begins with soil improvement and erosion control to repair waterways.”

The Gyeonggi Governor was impressed.

“Ah, so this is a case of renovation and preservation at the same time.”

“Are you starting to get a sense of it?”

“Yes, Your Excellency!”

“And in areas with insufficient agricultural water, create agricultural reservoirs. Be sure to install sluice gates to prevent collapse and adjust the safe water level in connection with the downstream storage capacity.”

“Understood, Your Excellency!”

“Create and operate forestry departments in each local government office. Structure it so that central organizations, receiving instructions from the Forestry Administration, dispatch personnel, rather than the local governments managing it directly. This will allow for independent management, free from local pressures.”

“Thank you, Your Excellency!”

The Gyeonggi Governor asked.

“Your Excellency, managing green belts and national parks will require a lot of manpower for the Forestry Administration.”

“Of course. Managing the entire country will require tens of thousands of people.”

“Yes, that’s what I’m worried about. Hiring tens of thousands of civil servants could strain the national finances.”

“I have some manpower in mind. I’ll let you know later.”

“Understood, Your Excellency!”

The President was thinking of repurposing the hundreds of thousands of civilian agents in the Central Intelligence Agency.

The President instructed another minister.

“Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy!”

“Yes, Your Excellency!”

“The main reason for logging trees in the mountains is for firewood for heating. It’s also needed in livestock farming, such as when boiling feed for cattle.”

“That’s an accurate analysis.”

“Simply banning firewood will make it an unenforceable law. So, supply lignite [a type of soft coal] to rural areas as an alternative fuel for firewood.”

“Understood, Your Excellency!”

“We are currently focusing on improving stoves in urban areas, but if the budget is secured, extend the program to rural areas as well, and encourage people not to use firewood from the beginning. We must offer incentives (‘carrots’) as well as enforce regulations (‘sticks’) to properly establish the greening project.”

“I will keep that in mind, Your Excellency!”

“And giving raw grass as feed is more nutritious than boiling it. Educate the rural communities about this.”

“Understood. We will launch a campaign to feed raw grass to cattle.”

The President explained a future concept.

“We need to consider the concept of genetic resources for plants and animals living in forests and water.”

“Did you say genetic resources?”

“Yes. It’s a bit unfamiliar, right?”

“Yes, I’ve heard of genetics, but this is my first time hearing about genetic resources.”

“Just as machines have blueprints, living things have their own genes. In the future, having a large diversity of species – in other words, a rich collection of these genes – will become a valuable resource.”

“Ah….”

Everyone nodded, but few understood.

“Let’s activate livestock farming and aquaculture to gradually and strongly discourage hunting and gathering in the wild. We need to educate the entire nation about nature conservation. Please have the Forestry Administration take charge of all these tasks.”

“Understood, Your Excellency!”

“And carefully preserve the ecosystems of all tidal flats and wetlands, except for the West Sea reclamation project area. They are a tremendous repository of species diversity and a natural filter for purifying environmental pollution.”

The ministers were impressed by the President’s expertise and focused on taking notes.

* * *

Arboretum.

Hundreds of species of saplings were growing for research purposes.

The President visited the arboretum with the head of the Forestry Administration and botanists and listened to a briefing.

The head of the Forestry Administration set up an explanatory panel and explained the ambitious afforestation plan, pointing with a pointer.

“We have set the afforestation plan as a three-stage, 30-year plan. The first phase is to plant fast-growing species such as acacia trees, the second phase is to plant medium-sized trees such as pine trees, and the final third phase is a 30-year long-term project to plant large trees with good economic value.”

The President listened silently.

This time, a researcher explained the species to be planted.

“The fast-growing species to be planted in the first phase is acacia, which you see here. It has the fastest growth rate, so you can see green mountains within two years. Vine plants such as wisteria and kudzu can sufficiently cover slopes where it is difficult to plant trees or rocky terrain with thin topsoil.”

“…….”

“The second phase is medium-sized trees. These are pitch pine and Korean pine, which grow well even in barren areas. The third phase is large trees, which are alder and Japanese cedar, which are economically valuable as timber. In particular, Japanese cedar grows to a diameter of 1-2m and a height of 40m, making it the best species in terms of economic value.”

However, the President, who was well aware of the advantages and disadvantages of the greening project during President Park’s era and the criticisms of the policy, instructed as follows:

“Plant acacia in barren areas, and plant native saplings in the remaining areas, even if it takes a little longer, to minimize the disturbance of the native ecosystem.”

There was criticism of acacia trees even during Chairman Wang’s time.

Due to its vigorous propagation power, it was suitable for greening projects, but there was criticism that it had the side effect of disrupting the ecosystem by pushing out native trees because it was too vigorous, such as digging into graves.

However, as time passed, acacia trees fundamentally had a short lifespan, so after the forest environment was created in a short period of time, they naturally withered and gave way to other trees, which was naturally resolved.

When the acacia trees withered, there was even a move to encourage planting them for the beekeeping industry.

There were also claims that acacia and alder trees acidified the soil, but it was found that these species have the effect of enriching barren land by fixing nitrogen with root nodule bacteria, making them suitable as initial species.

“And let’s exclude vine plants.”

“Vine plants?”

“Vine plants are so vigorous that they wrap around the original tree and kill it. All the trees in the vine plant area will die.”

The managers and researchers wrote it down diligently.

The President said.

“Pitch pine has more resin than native pine trees, making it difficult to use as timber, and the resin makes it flammable and vulnerable to forest fires. If we crossbreed American pitch pine, which grows well even in barren areas, with loblolly pine, which grows thick and looks good (pitch loblolly pine), we can see good results.”

The audience could not hide their surprise at the President’s expertise in genetic breeding.

The President emphasized.

“In particular, absolutely prohibit planting Japanese cedar. The damage is too great.”

“Japanese cedar prohibition….”

The President had personally witnessed the failure of Japanese cedar afforestation during a business trip to Japan during Chairman Wang’s time.

After the defeat in the war, Japan nationally encouraged planting Japanese cedar to rebuild the country.

As expected, it grew quickly and straight at a frightening rate, making it look very satisfactory as timber.

But they planted too much and it grew too well.

Japanese cedar ‘occupied’ the mountains all over Japan, trampling on species diversity.

It produced a lot of timber and had strong wood that could withstand earthquakes, so it was good at first, but soon lost its economic value by importing cheap and good low-priced timber from overseas.

The biggest afforestation purpose disappeared.

In addition, the pollen that covered the sky entirely in yellow was so severe that it produced allergy sufferers, and the shallow roots caused the huge body to fall over when a typhoon blew, covering houses and turning into a nuisance that increased damage.

Japan’s Japanese cedar greening project had to bear the disgrace of being a negative example of a greening project that disrupted the ecosystem, reduced economic feasibility, and became a source of pollution and disaster.

The researchers did not seem to understand the President’s prohibition of Japanese cedar.

The President explained.

“In about 10 years, global trade will become active, and cheap and high-quality timber will be actively imported from Southeast Asia. Therefore, let’s change the third large tree stage, which focuses on economic feasibility, to protecting groups that are suitable for our natural environment rather than artificial afforestation.”

As the audience was in confusion, the head of the Forestry Administration replied vigorously.

“Understood, Your Excellency! I will revise it.”

However, the laws related to the greening project had to go through a period of pain in the National Assembly.

* * *

National Assembly.

The opposition party questioned the government.

“Designating development restriction zones is an evil law that does not fit the market economy because the state forcibly infringes on the property rights of the people! Minister of the Interior, this dictatorial idea must be withdrawn immediately!”

The President instructed that when the government and the opposition party were in conflict like this, rather than pushing through with the number of seats, they should explain the policy as much as possible, discuss and prepare for improvements, and revive the function of the National Assembly.

The Minister of the Interior brought out an enlarged photo panel that he had prepared and explained it visually.

“This is an aerial photograph of Seoul in the 1960s, and this is a recent aerial photograph of Seoul. Unauthorized buildings are spreading like mold outside the four main gates. The problems that arise here are as follows.”

The Minister of the Interior explained with another photo.

“Due to unplanned urban expansion, logging is rampant in the mountains, and rivers directly discharge sewage, causing a terrible odor. Traffic congestion is severe because there are no vehicle roads, and there are many areas where electricity does not enter. Forest fires caused by cooking and heating are also frequent. Does the questioning member have any measures prepared for this?”

The opposition lawmakers were slightly shaken by the photos showing the evils nakedly.

They had never lived in a shantytown, and had never visited it except during election season.

It was a political offensive without any measures for the shantytown residents.

The Minister of the Interior said aggressively.

“The National Assembly is a place where consensual laws are enacted to restrict people’s lives for the public good. The nature conservation greening project is a public project that saves Seoul and the entire country, not for the benefit of a few. I cannot help but regret it if you refuse to propose a policy that minimizes the infringement of the property rights of a few and achieves greater public interest.”

“Hey, what measures has the minister prepared to lecture the lawmakers?”

The Minister of the Interior explained the measures he had prepared with photos.

“This photo shows an environmentally friendly complex.”

A clear stream flowed in front of the four-story villa, and a flower garden, playground, and walking path were created in the garden.

“The government will create and supply housing sites with infrastructure such as roads and water and sewage systems and a certain percentage of green space as essential requirements.”

The ruling and opposition lawmakers were embarrassed by the government’s thorough preparation.

“Environmentally friendly public housing construction is currently in full swing. Residents living in unauthorized green belt areas will be investigated and relocated to public housing, and the government plans to provide land or compensation for forest land that is tied up as a green belt. We will try to minimize the damage caused by the infringement of property rights.”

After several rounds of arguments, the opposition party, which only engaged in political offensives without alternatives, quickly ran out of steam.

The opposition party then latched onto the government’s reckless development.

In response, the minister replied.

“I admit that the existing development was indiscriminate. But future development will be different. Development inevitably damages nature, but we are introducing an environmental impact assessment system to achieve environmentally friendly development that can coexist with nature, not destroy it. I hope you will understand the purpose well.”

In the end, all laws related to the nature conservation greening project were passed with the premise of minimizing infringement of property rights and strengthening compensation.

* * *

The President announced a special statement on nature conservation and forest greening.

He announced the three-year afforestation plan and the establishment of forestry departments, and addressed the people as follows:

“…People who cause forest fires will be arrested regardless of the size, and at the same time, administrative officials at all levels, including the county head of the area where the forest fire occurred, will be severely reprimanded. In addition, the capture of wild animals and the collection of fallen leaves are also prohibited….”

With strong will, the President laid the foundation for the UN to select Korea as one of the representative successful greening countries of the 20th century along with Israel.