ISLAND TRANSFORMS INTO ‘MUD FLAT GARDEN’

[Anchor Lead]

Jeongseojin of Incheon is where the Gyeongin Ara Waterway and the West Sea meet. A small island that was left undeveloped right in front of the water junction is to be transformed into a “mud flat garden.” Seodo Island features a mud flat teeming with life and is surrounded by a reed field and a pine forest.

[Pkg]

Seodo Island. Merely 10 minutes by sea from Gyeongin Port, where Jeongseojin is located. The island only one kilometer from land is an unpolluted village free of cars. A walk along the hiking trail takes you to the edge of the island, where you can see the vast mudflat that stretches all the way to Ganghwado Island. The exposed mudflat is teeming with crabs looking for food. Island residents who settled here more than a century ago have been making their living off the tidal flat.

[Soundbite] Yang Seong-cheol(Seodo Island Resident) : "I collect clams from the mudflat to sell them raw or to make salted clam."

Along the coastal road is a reed field where the islanders get materials for their brooms. The Incheon government decided to modernize the pier and turn the island into a “mudflat garden.”

[Soundbite] Kim Wung-gyeom(Leader, Agriculture and Fisheries Team, Incheon Seogu Dist. Office) : "We plan to make it safer for the vessels to approach and dock at the island pier."

More desalination facilities will be built to solve the long-standing issue of drinking water. A variety of hands-on activities such as tidal flat interactive programs and bass fishing will also be arranged. The island that has been confined by the mudflat is now going to change into a “mudflat garden” of the West Sea.