SOUTH KOREA: Restauranteurs worry about ruined livelihoods by the South Korea's worst oil spill

Record ID: 344013

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: Restauranteurs worry about ruined livelihoods by the South Korea's worst oil spill
  • Date: 14th December 2007
  • Summary: (W1) TAEAN, SOUTH KOREA (DECEMBER 14, 2007) (REUTERS) CLOSED RESTAURANTS EMPTY FISH STAND EMPTY TANK MAN THROWING AWAY DEAD FISH DEAD FISH DUMPED DEAD FISH (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) 57-YEAR-OLD CHOI GEON-UNG SAYING: "Because of the oil spill, nobody is coming to the restaurants and as you can see, all the restaurants have been shut down." CLOSED RESTAURANTS EMPTY TABLES IN F
  • Embargoed: 29th December 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA4W3BMGXPG4X7W6069MZ9GL8HZ
  • Story Text: Residents depending on tourism and marine farm business to make their living are worried on Friday (December 14) about ruined livelihoods because of the South Korea's worst oil spill.
    More than 10,000 area residents, soldiers and volunteers have been working to clean blackened beaches about 150 km (95 miles) southwest of Seoul and remove oil from a nature reserve that started washing ashore after a barge carrying a crane punched holes in a tanker on Friday, and triggered a 10,500-tonne leak of crude oil.
    Choi Geon-ung, 57, said he would give up running a law-fish restaurant as no customers are visiting his restaurant since the oil spill.
    "Because of the oil spill, nobody is coming to the restaurants and as you can see, all the restaurants have been shut down," said Choi.
    Thousands of area residents have been helping in the clean-up, saying there is nothing else to do now that tourism has died in the region famed for its sandy beaches. Local fisheries have ground to a halt.
    Hotels in the region are vacant and several area restaurants that catered to tourists have posted signs in their windows reading: "The government needs to pay".

    "I used to earn about thousands U.S. dollars, but since the oil disaster I've got nothing. I cannot do anything. I have no idea how long this situation will last… I don't know how to make a living from now," Choi added.
    Environmental groups say oil in the Taean seabed and theloss of food for aquatic species will lead to damage to the ecosystem that will last for years.
    South Korea has declared the region a disaster area but initially freed up just over $6 million dollars in aid. It has yet to give an estimate for the damage.
    A maritime ministry official said the country lacked enough clean-up equipment and was ill prepared, Yonhap news agency said.
    The leak is about a third of the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill of crude oil onto Alaskan shores, which was the costliest on record. The clean-up alone from that disaster cost around $2.5 billion while the total cost, including fines and claims settlement, is estimated at $9.5 billion.
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