Cheonggyecheon

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Cheonggyecheon

Korean name
Hangul:	청계천
Hanja:	淸溪川
Revised Romanization:	Cheonggyecheon
McCune-Reischauer:	Ch'ǒnggyech'ǒn

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Cheonggye Stream, also known as Cheong Gye Cheon, also spelled in one word Cheonggyecheon, is a 5.8km creek flowing through downtown Seoul, Korea and then meeting the Han River.

During the presidency of Syngman Rhee, Cheong Gye Cheon was covered over with concrete for roads and, in 1968, an elevated highway was built over it. In July 2003, Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak initiated a project to uncover and restore the stream. It was a major undertaking as not only did the highway have to be removed, but years of neglect and development had left the stream nearly totally dry and 120,000 tons of water had to be pumped in daily.^{[citation needed]} The stream was opened to the public in September of 2005 and lauded as a major success in urban renewal and beautification. However, there was considerable opposition from the previous mayoral administration of Goh Kun, which feared gentrification of the adjacent areas that housed many shops and small businesses in the machine trades.

The restoration helped Lee become a nationally renowned figure, making him a serious contender for the presidency, but did not come without controversy. In May 2005, just a few months before the project was to finish, Seoul vice-mayor Yang Yun-jae and local politician Kim Il-ju were arrested on bribery charges related to the project.^{[citation needed]}

The project is estimated to have cost over 900 billion won (approximately US$ 900 million). In addition, about 12 trillion won (US$12 billion) is expected to be invested to re-develop the 792,000 square meter region near the stream into a major commercial and residential area over the next five years.^{[citation needed]} Some Korean environmental organizations have criticized the project for its high costs, calling it purely symbolic and not really beneficial to the city's eco-environment.

		Cheonggye Stream flowing through Seoul	The beginning of the Cheonggye Stream at night
The Cheonggye Stream at night	The Cheonggye Stream east of Dongdaemun Market	Remnants of the old Cheonggye elevated highway