Environmentalists win battle

Some citizens` belief that the preservation of the environment is more important than financial gain has successfully curtailed the government`s land development policy.

A request by the residents of Yongin`s Jook-Jun district in Kyonggi Province to keep the district protected as a green belt met with "resounding approval" at the Ministry of Construction and Transportation on the 20th.

It was a jubilant moment for the Jook-Jun residents, who had been actively participating in the environmental protection movement to designate their district part of the green belt. However, as certain parts of the district will not be protected, the victory was not complete.

Kim Eung-Ho, the Chairman of the Joint Campaign Committee to block the government`s development policy in western Yongin, was elated by the news that 100,000 pyong of Mt. Daji were designated a green belt region by the Ministry of Construction and Transportation.

"It is a joyful occasion as we now can preserve the land which our ancestors have passed down to us. I would like to give my warmest thanks to the Ministry of Construction and Transportation for understanding the desire and will of Jook-Jun residents."

The patriarch of the deep-rooted Kim family of Moon-kwan, Kim Hyung-Ho said, "It is wonderful that our wish has been fulfilled. We will not be required to transplant the burial sites of our ancestors, which stretch back 15 generations. We can now leave this protected environment of beauty and heritage to our descendants."