| Korea's Saemangeum Seawall has been certified by the Guinness World Records as the longest man-made dike in the world. Located in North Jeolla Province, the 33.9 kilometer barrier connecting the counties of Gunsan and Buan officially finished construction in April. With more than 200 people on hand, a ceremony was held on Monday to congratulate the formal recognition. And now, Korea's construction technology has been recognized internationally for being ahead of its time. [Interview : ] "Korea's construction technology has wowed the world. This is what the Rural Community Corporation has done. I believe this will act as a stepping stone for us to export our technology to other nations." Hoping the dike can become an economic highway to reach the world beyond Northeast Asia, the Korean government spent 2.9 trillion won, or some 2.5 billion US dollars, in constructing the record-setting barrier, also known as "the Great Wall on the Sea." It has now officially replaced the 32.5-kilometers-long Zuiderzee dike in the Netherlands as the longest on Earth. [Interview : ] "The former longest seawall was actually achieved by the Netherlands. And previously, it was the longest dike. But, Saemangeum has actually broken the record by 1.4 kilometers longer than them." Since its completion, the Saemangeum dike has attracted over 3.5 million visitors. And from this point on, even more visitors from both home and abroad are expected to flock to this one-of-a-kind structure. Moreover, expectations are high that Saemangeum could further accelerate the region's various development projects. source: Arirang news |
In a misguided attempt to help multiethnic families and their children and to bolster falling birthrates, the Korean government took another small but important step towards reverse ethnic discrimination both as a means to aid multiethnic children as well as encourage more multiethnic unions. According to reports, all "multicultural" children regardless of income will enjoy free daycare services from the government starting next year, the government announced Thursday. About 28,000 multicultural children are expected to benefit. Children between birth and age five will be eligible and under the program, parents will receive a state subsidy to enroll their multicultural child in daycare centers. Currently, only parents who earn less than 2.58 million won are eligible. Korea Times welcomes reverse discrimination While we personally find any form of legalized racial discrimination appalling, the Korea Times newspaper appeared to cheer the decision in an editorial that in...
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