Posted September. 20, 2007 07:51,
People in the ancient Middle East are said to have planted fig trees and almond trees at roadside to let travelers pick fruit from the trees and eat. People in Chinas ancient Zhou kingdom planted peach and plum trees on the streets. King Taejong in Joseon Dynasty is also said to have told his people to plant trees along the boulevards at Hanyang, then capital city, but the names of the trees that were planted are unknown.
Roadside trees play various roles. They reduce temperatures by 2 to 6 degrees and increase humidity by 9 to 23 percent. Furthermore, one roadside tree, which costs a maintenance fee of 6,000 won a year, supplies four people with oxygen to breathe.
One of the most beautiful boulevards in Korea is a 4.53-kilometer route in Cheongju, part of the Gyeongbu Expressway, which runs from Cheongju Interchange to Bansong Bridge, Gangseo-dong in Cheongju. The route, lined with 1,088 plane trees, looks like a tunnel. It is well known to the public thanks to a popular TV drama Sandglass where male lead Choi Min-soo rides his motorbike with Goh Hyeon-jeong, a female lead. Though it is a short drive, to fully enjoy the beautiful scenery of the road and to see how it changes every season, one should visit every season.
These roadside plane trees are now in grief over losing their father. Hong Chae-bong, who planted 1,600 plane saplings there in 1952 and nurtured them until now, passed away at the age of 97 last Monday. Since he was elected to be village headman of Gangseo-myeon in Cheongwon-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do at the age of 39, he devoted his life to growing them. He was often on the lookout to prevent passers-by and children from damaging them, which was consistent with his conviction that Planting is not everything. Trees, like children, need love and care. Though he faced a couple of difficulties in raising them, such as road expansion plans, his utmost care brought them through the years unscathed.
This boulevard is in trouble these days. As traffic increases, road expansion schemes are threatening. Whenever a new city mayor takes office, a new plan appears. The former mayor started construction to transform the boulevard into a park with two side roads, but the plan stalled. Incumbent mayor Nam Sang-woo announced his own plan to build a roadway and a sidewalk along the boulevard based on a poll. However, his plan also hit a snag due to opposition from some civic groups. Its really worrisome that the boulevard could lose its trees amid changing plans.
Hong Gwon-hui, Editorial Writer, konihong@donga.com