Professor addresses water shortage in South Korea

Portland State geography Professor Heejun Chang and a visiting scholar Il-won Jung gave a lecture Wednesday night to raise awareness about South Korea’s water shortage.

According to Jung, South Korea has a very strong and prosperous economy, which is rapidly growing.

“The Korean economy grew tremendously in 2009,” Jung said at the lecture.

South Korea’s automotive, information technology and shipbuilding industries are among its strongest, he said.

Though South Korea has a strong economy, it still needs to improve its water resource system, according to Jung.

“Korea gets a lot of precipitation in a short period of time,” he said, adding that most of its rainfall occurs in the summer.

There are frequent floods during the summer months, whereas in the spring months there tends to be more droughts, Jung said.

South Korea also experiences extended floods from June through September. This means there is more flood damage in the areas that receive the most and longest flooding.

South Korea is currently trying to find solutions to the shortage of water resources. Chang said that the nation is importing water from other places and is constructing numerous water reservoirs.

Chang and Jung said that they have many ideas to increase South Korea’s water supply, but that in order to fully understand the problem, one needs to look for its cause.

According to Chang, the growth in population has led to a water demand. In addition, the amount of water the nation gets depends on the weather it experiences each season.

Rural conditions also increase the demand for water, as 63 percent of the nation’s water resources go toward agriculture.      

While there are some ideas and projects implemented in South Korea already, Chang and Jung are testing another model: the hydro-economic model set up in the Han River. The results from this test are expected this month, and both experts believe that it will help determine what is the best course of action for South Korea.

Chang also noted that South Koreans are against the construction of dams.

“People don’t want [the government] to construct dams because it destroys the environment,” Chang said. 

However, Chang said that dams are the best option.

Other solutions Chang recommends include expanding and diversifying the nation’s water supplies, developing alternate water supplies, reducing the demand of water, implementing operational changes and increasing drought preparedness.

At the lecture, community member Bob Stevens said that he thinks the best way to reduce the demand for water is to switch from rice to another crop.

“Wheat takes less water than other crops,” he said.

However, Chang and Jung feel that wheat is not as cost-effective, as it would have to be imported.

“It is time to prepare for our future,” Jung said. ?