See even bulldozing. pouring concrete, and completely changing the natural environment can be considered as going green now:

Last month, on a gravelly embankment of the Youngsan River here, President Lee Myung-bak broke ground on a $19.2 billion public works project to remake the country’s four longest rivers, an ambitious and controversial undertaking that has spurred a national debate over what constitutes green development.

Mr. Lee says the project will generate thousands of jobs, improve water supply and quality, and prevent flooding, while providing a model for environmentally sound development.

But critics call it a political boondoggle, say it will be an environmental disaster and have sued to stop it. More South Koreans oppose the project than support it. And opponents charge that it is simply a repackaging of Mr. Lee’s earlier dream of linking the Han and Nakdong Rivers to create a “Grand Korean Waterway” across the nation, a proposal he abandoned in the face of widespread opposition.

Meanwhile engineers have already begun work to rebuild the Han, Nakdong, Kum and Youngsan Rivers, work that is likely to make Mr. Lee famous or infamous long after his five-year term ends in 2013 and could even determine who succeeds him.

“If they build a weir here, I fear it will trap the water and make the river more polluted than it is now,” said Choi Han-gon, 55, a farmer here who admits to conflicted feelings about the project. Gazing at a government billboard depicting the futuristic waterfront town promised to rise here within two years, he added, “I can also see why everyone will love it once it’s done.”

Mr. Lee, a former chief executive of the Hyundai construction company who is nicknamed the Bulldozer for his penchant for colossal engineering schemes, aims at nothing less than rethinking the ecology and economy of the rivers, some of which were heavily polluted during the country’s rapid industrialization. For three years, workers will dredge river bottoms and build dikes, reservoirs and hydroelectric power stations.

When the work is done, the government says, the rivers will “come alive” with tourists, sailboats and water sports enthusiasts. Sixteen futuristic-looking weirs will straddle the rivers, creating pristine lakes bordered by wetland parks. A 1,050-mile network of bike trails will run along the rivers.

Mr. Lee has engaged in this sort of development before, overcoming similar opposition and ultimately reaping a political fortune. As mayor of Seoul, in 2005, he silenced protests from urban shop owners and peeled back asphalt to reveal a long-forgotten, sewage-filled stream. He cleaned it and let it run again through downtown Seoul by pumping in water from the Han River.

Today, the four-mile Cheonggyecheon River is the capital’s most visible landmark. Its popularity helped win him the presidency in 2007.

Now, with an eye to his legacy, Mr. Lee is determined to repeat that success, this time on a national scale.

He wants the work done fast, in time for the 2012 parliamentary and presidential elections. Although he is constitutionally barred from seeking re-election, his governing Grand National Party bills the river project as the centerpiece of a Green New Deal, a strategy of economic growth through eco-friendly projects.  [New York Times]