SEOUL, KOREA - The Jeju Provincial Legislature has rebuffed the request by Hanjin Group to raise its limit to take underground water from the island. The group hoped to promote Jeju mineral water as a global brand, but the legislators are opposed to the plea on the grounds "our natural resources are not up for sale by commercial interests."

 

Korea Airport Service, a Hanjin Group company, has supplied Jeju-sourced mineral water brand-named "Jeju Pure Water" since 1993, with most of the supplies going to its Korean Air international flight passengers and affiliate hotel guests.

 

In 2011, the company made a formal request to the provincial legislature to increase the annual water-intake limit to 300 tons from 100 as its water sales have increased quickly in flights and hotels. But the legislature voted down the proposal for reasons that it is not right to give away the assets of the island residents to a private company.

 

Still Korea Airport Service did not back down, asking this time for 200 tons if not 300. Finally the environment and urban committee of the legislature accepted a proposal to raise the limit slightly to 120 tons in February this year, as the acknowledgement of an effort by the company to move fresh produce of Jeju to the mainland during the winter season. However, Park Hee-soo, the chairman of the Jeju Provincial Legislature, insisted, "Under no circumstances can pure water of our residents be used to enrich private corporations," which doomed the company's prospect for drawing more water from the island.