Local community members are strongly protesting against behind-the-scenes decision-making ahead of the written resolution of the Saemangeum Committee, which will determine the mid- to long-term plans for seawater distribution in Saemangeum.

On the morning of the 15th, the Saemangeum Permanent Seawater Distribution Movement Headquarters and Oh Hyun-sook, a Jeollabuk-do assembly member, held a joint press conference at the 1st floor press room of the Jeollabuk Special Self-Governing Province Assembly, officially urging the temporary suspension of the written resolution of the Saemangeum Committee and the organization of a public debate on the Ministry of Environment's report.

Since its establishment in April 2024, the movement headquarters has been promoting the necessity of seawater distribution in Saemangeum and has collected approximately 25,000 signatures from Jeollabuk residents, fishermen, and civic groups. They have been actively engaging in discussions with government agencies to convey public opinion to the Saemangeum Committee, which is currently discussing mid- to long-term plans for seawater distribution.

In the first quarter of 2025, under the auspices of the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee, the Jeollabuk Provincial Office, Ministry of Environment, and Saemangeum Development Authority participated in two meetings to convey the position of the movement headquarters.

During these meetings, the movement headquarters raised numerous objections to the Ministry of Environment's report. In particular, they pointed out that the practical measures for water quality pollution within the Saemangeum reservoir are inadequate, and the current water quality measures are negatively impacting the waters outside Saemangeum, despite setting goals based on average annual and point average values, which are impossible for biological survival.

At the meetings, there was also a consensus on the "need for a permanent seawater distribution and significant expansion of inflow volume," and if permanent seawater distribution is challenging, they proposed a gradual increase in management levels as a method of empirical testing. The Ministry of Environment expressed its intention to consider flexible management level adjustments and additional installation of drainage gates based on inter-ministerial discussions.

However, recently, the Ministry of Environment and the Saemangeum Committee decided to replace the report with a written review and resolution process from April 14th to 23rd.

In response, the movement headquarters strongly objected, stating that "hasty decisions without sufficient consensus-building and exchange of opinions are unacceptable." They particularly emphasized that unilateral procedural progress cannot be tolerated, especially since their request for a meeting with private committee members was rejected, and they have not even received the final report content for sharing.

The movement headquarters also mentioned another issue regarding the location of the discharge outlets included in the Saemangeum Smart Waterfront City project. According to the Saemangeum Development Corporation, a significant number of the 12 discharge outlets are located at levels close to -1.5m management level, ranging from -0.15m to -1.47m, making them structurally vulnerable to rising sea levels and floods.