Cleaning the River

[Anchor Lead]

Divers from Korea's Special Warfare Command have embarked on an important mission in Seoul: cleaning the Hangang River. Let’s take a look.

[Pkg]

Divers from the Special Warfare Command have been deployed to clean the waters in the resource protection area located upstream of the Hangang River. The river bottom at ten meters deep is full of discarded nets, tires and other kinds of trash dumped here secretly. It even includes bicycles.

[Soundbite] Lim Hong-ik(Master Sergeant, Special Warfare Command) : "We find anchors, discarded tires and bikes in the water."

In just one hour, two tons of trash have been collected from the bottom of the Hangang River. They are the culprits of water pollution.

[Soundbite] Hong Jung-ki(Chief, Hangang River Basin Environmental Office) : "Trash in the river pollutes the water and disrupts or destroys the eco-system."

The Ministry of Environment and the Special Warfare Command clean the Hangang River twice a year but efforts to prevent water pollution in advance may be more urgent.