President Roh Moo-hyun on Wednesday said the government will spare no effort to redevelop Busan’s North Port, which he said offered an example for the way Korea should go. "I want to build a perfect foundation for the project during my term," he said after being briefed on the North Port redevelopment plan at the Busan Port Authority. The plan is to turn a 1.4 million sq. m site around the old North Port into an international “hub” of marine business and tourism by building new facilities there for a whopping W9.26 trillion (US$1=W931) to be spent between 2008 and 2020.

Dong-gu in Busan, where the port is located, is Roh’s political base, the constituency that first elected him to the 13th National Assembly in 1988. He was also the first to come up with plans to develop the port when he was minister of maritime affairs and fisheries. The government budget for the year 2007 earmarks W52.9 billion for developing the North Port and another W8 billion on building roads linking it to the new port.

(englishnews@chosun.com )