The Saemangeum Seawall, located on the southwest coast of the

Korean peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, is the world's longest man-made dyke, measuring . It runs between two headlands, and separates the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. It is one of four seas named after common colour terms ...

and the former

Saemangeum Saemangeum is an estuary, estuarine tidal flat on the coast of the Yellow Sea in South Korea. It was dammed by the government of South Korea's Saemangeum Seawall, Saemangeum Seawall Project, completed on April 27, 2010, after a long fight betw ...

estuary.

In 1991, the

South Korean government The Government of South Korea is the union government of the South Korea, Republic of Korea, created by the Constitution of South Korea as the executive, legislative and judicial authority of the republic. The president acts as the head of sta ...

announced that a dyke would be constructed to link three headlands just south of the

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n industrial port city of

Gunsan Gunsan (), also romanized as Kunsan, is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is on the south bank of the Geum River just upstream from its exit into the Yellow Sea. It has emerged as a high-tech manufacturing industrial city and an int ...

, southwest of

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, to create of farmland and a freshwater reservoir. Since then, the government has spent nearly 2 trillion won ( billion USD) on construction of the dyke, with another 220 billion won ( million USD) budgeted on strengthening the dyke and a further 1.31 trillion won ( billion USD) to transform the tidal flats into arable land and the reservoir. The average width of the sea wall/earth dam is (it is at its widest) and the average height is ( at its highest). The construction of the Saemangeum Seawall has caused controversy from the moment it was announced as environmental groups protested against the impact of the dyke on the local environment.

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

challenges in 1999 and 2005 led to temporary production stoppages but ultimately failed to stop the project. Major construction was completed in April 2006, with the seawall longer than the

Afsluitdijk The ''Afsluitdijk'' (; fry, Ofslútdyk; nds-nl, Ofsluutdiek; en, "Closure Dyke") is a major dam and causeway in the Netherlands. It was constructed between 1927 and 1932 and runs from Den Oever in North Holland province to the village of ...

in the

IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; fy, Iselmar, nds-nl, Iesselmeer), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed off inland bay in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with an a ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, previously the longest seawall-dyke in the world. With remaining minor construction and inspection finished, the seawall was officially open to the public on 27 April 2010. Then South Korean president

Lee Myung Bak Lee Myung-bak (; ; ; born 19 December 1941) is a South Korean businessman and politician who served as the 10th president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction, and the ma ...

commented that Saemangeum would be "the kernel and the gateway of South Korea's west coast industrial belt", and is "another effort by us for low-carbon and green growth, along with the four-rivers project". A ceremony was held in Saemangeum the same day, with cabinet officials, politicians, and delegates from other countries. A floating solar PV plant of 2.1 GW capacity is planned using the

coastal reservoir Coastal reservoir is a type of reservoir to store fresh water on sea coast area near a river delta. Saemanguem in South Korea, Marina Barrage in Singapore, Qingcaosha and Plover Cove in China, Delta Works in Netherlands, Thanneermukkom Bund in In ...

area of the Saemangeum Seawall.

Composition

The road on Saemangeum Seawall with the length of 33 km, connects

Buan County Buan County (''Buan-gun'') is a county in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is bounded by the city of Jeongeup on the east, the county of Gochang on the south, the city of Gimje on the north, and Yellow Sea on the west. Buan is divided into 1 ...

is a part of National Route 77. IS: Intersection, IC: Interchange

References

* "Saemangum seawall completed", ''

The Korea Herald ''The Korea Herald'' is a leading English-language daily newspaper founded in 1953 and published in Seoul, South Korea. The editorial staff is composed of Korean and international writers and editors, with additional news coverage drawn from int ...

'', 22 April 2006, Seoul.
Google Earth view

Google Maps viewArticle in New York Review of Books
Mentions Saemangeum Seawall as prime example of bird habitat loss {{Coord, 35.820222, 126.482758, region:KR_type:landmark_source:Google, display=title Seawalls Buildings and structures in South Korea Nature conservation in South Korea Buildings and structures in North Jeolla Province Environmental disasters in Asia 2006 in South Korea 2006 in the environment Internal territorial disputes of South Korea Saemangeum

Composition

See also

References