One can hear some sounds from the middle of a tideland when there are no people with setting
darkness of night. The singing of nature, the murmur of a stream over a tideland, the whisper of a
myriad of clams, and the crawl of fine mud gathers around and moves people.

Now, however, these natural sounds are disappearing. That is why we are now standing here in Seoul in order to speak for them-- the perishing voices of the lives at Saemangum.

The campaign, the Voices of Lives at Saemangum (Saemangum voice of lives), initiated by Buddhist monk Hayoo with the magnificent drumbeat on March 12, has continued for ten days. Today, on the tenth day, the campaign is performed at Nam-in-sa Square in Insa-dong around noon. Many musical instruments, such as drums, gongs, and guitars harmonize with each other representing the "voice of lives" at Saemangum. It is a small demonstration performed to inform people that Saemangum is on the verge of destruction, to share with them in its suffering, and to revive our significant territory.

Today, the Voice of Lives is opened with "the claim of future generations." Children strike their gongs twelve times, which signifies twelve years ago when the reclamation work began. A high-school student, Nara Yoon, presides over the campaign. She says that the innocent Iraqi people who are now killed in battle are not different from the lives at Saemangum which are in danger of extermination, and that we should think about them.

Two kids play their flutes representing the voices of lives. "The Spring of My Hometown" and "A Lighthouse Man" are played reminding people of the peaceful tidal flat of Saemangum. Children explain why Saemangum should be preserved, and talk about "the suit of future generations." Passersby stop to sign the papers of objection to the Saemangum reclamation project.  

The Saemangum reclamation project is listening to what the children say. All children sing together." 8,000 years ago an icebound river ran to the Yellow sea, sea tides came and went to carry soils that became tidal flats with beautiful living creatures..."

Even though they have not practiced singing together, the voices of every boy and girl are stirring.  The children who sing, talk, and play flutes have been in litigation over the objection to the Saemangum reclamation project for three years. Three children represented the plaintiffs of the suit when it started; Yoonjin, who was five years old then, now becomes a pupil, Sujin, a middle-school student, and Sunwook, a high-school student.

If the reclamation project proceeds as planned, it will finish after ten years when these children become leaders in society.  It is our children who will be influenced directly by the Saemangum reclamation plan.

Adults, however, do not ask their opinions about it when they translate the project into action. This means that the adults do not consider the future effects of the destructive construction. People often say that the environment in which we live now is borrowed from the next generation. So, to damage the environment means to squander the children's property. That is why these children go to court. Actually, in the Philippines, there was a suit begun by children who wanted to protect their tropical rain forest; the children won the suit and could preserve their valuable property.

President Roh, when he was the ex-Minister of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, opposed the Saemangum reclamation plan. However, he now says that Saemangum will be used in more effective ways. All children, including those who raised the lawsuit, remember what he said as well as what he says now. We hope that President Roh will remember what he said and not lie to the next generation.

Dear President Moo Hyun Roh, Mr. President! Please, save our Saemangum.
Bad men are now trying to reclaim Saemangum.
Birds and crabs in the Saemangum on which we prize and love peacefully.
However, they are now in danger of being expelled.
People will be sick after eating the polluted shellfish.
Please, save our Saemangum.