

By Kim Se-jeong

Seoul City's plan to build a new cable car route on Mount Nam to cater to tourists is generating a lot of debate.

While the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) says the project will be environmentally friendly because it will eventually remove all tourist buses from the mountain, environmentalists claim that the construction will damage the mountain.

The plan has come amid another controversy over a cable car project on Mount Seorak in Gangwon Province, which was approved by the central government last weekend.

The city said that it will add a cable-car operation on Mount Nam in addition to the one already in operation there.

According to the plan, small-sized cable cars, carrying about 10 people each, will carry tourists on an 888-meter-long new route between North Seoul Tower on top of the mountain and a new cable car station near Chungmuro subway station.

The new cable car station will be set up at the foot of the mountain where office buildings for the city government and the Seoul Traffic Broadcasting building are located. The buildings will be removed and the area will be transformed into a park where tourists' buses can be parked.

The city expects the new cable cars will transport 10,000 people every day.

"The cable car project is expected to reduce air pollution generated by tourist buses that drive up the mountain," an SMG official said.

The mountain is one of the major tourist attractions in the city, drawing up to 400 buses every day carrying almost 15,000 tourists to the top of the mountain. The current cable cars carry almost 6,000 people per day.

In May, the city government announced the mountain will be a tourist bus free zone by 2018. The new cable cars will go into operation that same year.

However, environmentalists oppose the project because of potential damage to the ecosystem of the mountain.

The city is planning a public hearing on the project later this year.

The official said the plan had nothing to do with the Mount Seorak cable car project. "Mount Seorak is a national park designated under the goal of preserving habitats for endangered species, while the mountain in Seoul is an urban park and our goal is to make things more convenient for people."

The Mount Seorak cable car project has generated continuous protests despite the government's final approval. Environmental activists plan legal action to cancel the project, and are waging campaigns to garner support from citizens. They say the mountain, listed as a UNESCO preservation site, is home to almost 350 mountain goats and the cable car, will threaten their lives, environmentalists say..

But local municipalities argue the project is crucial in bringing in more tourists to the area and contributing to the sluggish local economy.