RESTORATION OF CHUJADO ISLAND

[Anchor Lead]

KBS reported in May about an illegal concrete mixing facility and waste dumps that had polluted Chujado Island for decades. Now the island's former beauty has been restored, thanks to the efforts of its residents.

[Pkg]

The naked truth about a stone mountain on Chujado Island was unearthed by a KBS news report. The investigative piece discovered that illegal concrete mixing and waste dumping had been perpetrated in this environmentally valuable area. KBS reporters returned to the island three months later. The illegal concrete-mixing facility had been cleared out and flowers had bloomed on the desolate stone field where waste had been buried. Island residents started working together to restore the damaged nature after the KBS report aired.

[Soundbite] OH YEONG-SU(CHUJA-MYEON RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION) : "We realized that nature should be preserved and damages repaired."

Knee-deep debris was removed and every part of the shore was washed by hand, inviting back its natural inhabitants of shellfish, crabs, and other marine life. The local government has found a legitimate use for the illegal concrete facility, which the authorities had ignored for the sake of regional development. Now they found a way to develop the island without destroying the natural environment.

[Soundbite] KIM YONG-DEOK(CHUJA-MYEON VILLAGE CHIEF) : "A legal concrete plant with dust reduction and waste water processing systems have been installed to enable construction in the local community."

A construction company's greed and bureaucratic indulgence had polluted Chujado Island for a very long time. But the heavenly island is now rediscovering its former beauty.