Environment ministry backs citizen-led removal of small weir on Jeonju stream

The environment ministry said Monday it will join six other organizations in a joint agreement to remove a small weir on the upper reaches of the Jeonju stream in Wanju, North Jeolla Province, a project financed by corporate sponsorship and driven by civil society.

The agreement, signed at the Sangjugeum weir site, brings together the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, the North Jeolla provincial government, Wanju county, the Korea Environment Corporation, Coca-Cola Korea, the Forest and Sharing Foundation and the North Jeolla chapter of the Korean Environmental Movement Federation. Work is scheduled to begin in January 2027 and finish that April, at a cost of about 300 million won ($223,480) funded by the Global Coca-Cola Foundation.

The weir, a drop structure built in the mid-1970s to hold the streambed, measures 5.9 meters in cross-section and stands 2.2 meters high. Removing it is intended to reconnect a waterway cut in two and restore the continuity of the aquatic ecosystem, the ministry said.

Coca-Cola Korea will channel the project budget to the Forest and Sharing Foundation, which will manage the work and spending. The ministry and the North Jeolla regional environment office will handle administrative support such as permits and post-completion follow-up, while the provincial government and Wanju county will maintain and monitor the site. The Korea Environment Corporation will provide technical support, and the environmental federation will promote the project locally and widen participation.

The arrangement is unusual in putting a weir removal proposed by civil society into effect with corporate money, while central and local governments and a public agency supply administrative and technical backing.

"This agreement is a meaningful starting point in which the change citizens want for our streams is realized through corporate sponsorship and cooperation between the public and private sectors," Environment Minister Kim Sung-hwan said. He added that the ministry would actively support extending the waterway restoration begun at the Jeonju stream to rivers nationwide.