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The British daily Financial Times, which has tended to give Korea a rough ride in its evangelically pro-market pages, has good things to say about the government's economic policy during this global crisis.
In a Seoul-datelined story under the title "Seoul to create eco-friendly jobs," Christian Oliver on Friday wrote, "One year ago, many environmentalists saw Lee Myung-bak, South Korea's president, as a bete noire, fearing a former construction executive who once planned to carve a giant canal down the whole length of the country." "But he has changed, spearheading a huge US$32 billion 'Green New Deal' intended to create employment during a brutal economic downturn and revolutionize South Korea's whole industrial economy."
The paper said Korea "has one of the world's largest solar power stations and is branching into tidal power, trying to combat an overwhelming dependence on imported oil." But it points out that some environmental groups such as conservationists Birds Korea have "called for the suspension of the project to clean and dredge four main rivers and exploit them for leisure activities until the full impact on endangered birdlife has been assessed."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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