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Restoration of Nature or Special Interests? A Political Economy Analysis of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project in South Korea

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Abstract

In 2009, a large-scale construction project on rivers and riparian zones in South Korea, which is called the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, was launched. The officially announced purposes of this project included: (1) solving water shortages, (2) improving water quality, and (3) providing citizens with leisure facilities. However, adverse environmental consequences such as deterioration of water quality, mass death of aquatic life, and soil contamination have been consistently reported. The current study focuses on illuminating South Korean political economy contexts and analyzing stakeholders’ political and/or economic interests that shaped the project. We conclude that reinforced neoliberalism in South Korea after the Asian financial crisis in 1997 should be considered to understand the background of this project. Within the neoliberal contexts, we also argue that political and economic interests of three stakeholders—business, the state, and the public—were closely associated with the implementation of this project.

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Fig. 1

Source: Ministry of Environment (2017)

Fig. 2

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2017a)

Fig. 3

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2017b)

Fig. 4

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2017c)

Fig. 5

Source: Statistics Korea (n.d.)

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Notes

  1. In 1997, concerns about Asian countries’ high rates of foreign debts and their incompetency in redemption led to an outflow of foreign capital. The outflow rapidly dropped the values of currencies of some Asian countries including Thailand, Indonesia, and South Korea. Due to the collapse of currency, these countries were regulated by the IMF’s bail-out program.

  2. Chaebols consider these regulations obstacles that threaten their market dominance and corporate structure. Regarding the ceiling on the total amount of shareholdings in other domestic companies, it deters unfair inside trading between Chaebol subsidiaries and an illegal inheritance transfer to owners’ families. For the separation of banking and commerce, it prohibits Chaebols from having their own bank. It is because they may abuse debts through banks they own and dominate markets in an unfair way.

  3. In the first round bidding in 2009, 15 Chaebol firms were selected but they were suspected of prearrangement because only two or three firms participated in each tender for 14 blocks out of 15. In 2012, their collusive prearrangement was detected by the Board of Audits and Inspection. Moreover, it was also revealed that public officials who supervised the bidding process had not taken any action even though they had identified this illicit collusion.

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  1. Department of Criminal Justice, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, One West University Blvd., Brownsville, TX, 78520, USA

    Hyojong Song

  2. Department of Criminology, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., SOC107, Tampa, FL, 33620, USA

    Michael J. Lynch

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Song, H., Lynch, M.J. Restoration of Nature or Special Interests? A Political Economy Analysis of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project in South Korea. Crit Crim 26, 251–270 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-018-9384-0

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