Lee Myung-bak, the then president of South Korea, initiated the Four Major Rivers Project in 2007 to revitalize the four major rivers in Korea. His objective was to prevent floods, improve water quality, and therefore create recreational areas that will naturally bring in more tourism revenue for local regions. His plans had to inevitably encounter immense opposition from many politicians, NGOs, and environmental organizations but he forced the plan anyway. Consequently, approximately 20 billion US dollars of tax revenue was spent in carrying this ?grand plan?; dikes were built, dams were installed, and rivers were lined with cement.

The constructed continued for two years, and as expected, stirred up a lot of controversies. The effectiveness of the project was questioned at most. Though Lee had promised the enhanced quality of the four major rivers, the unthoughtful plan of his rather messed up many key natural habitats, threatening many of the species living nearby. The plummeted water quality even created jokes and memes calling the rivers as ?green algae latte?, referring to the river?s slime-like viscosity and exponential growth of algae to an unhealthy point. Environmental experts argue that in order to restore the quality of the four rivers—Han, Geum, Nakdong, and Yeongsan River—all the artificial construction should be removed.

The Four Rivers Restoration Project, initiated to confront and resolve the environmental challenges of the four rivers, was thus enacted to restore the water quality and ensure better flood control. Though it had plans to restore 90% of the BOD by 2012, its progress is not as rapid as expected. President Moon Jae-in the current president of South Korea who announced this project as one of his biggest promises when he was elected president is currently facing criticism from many environmental organizations due to its lagging progress.