Amazed by China's 'green project', South Korea netizens say anti-China critics are the frogs in well
(ECNS) -- South Korean netizens praised China's "Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program" after public broadcaster KBS aired a feature titled "China Builds a 'Green Great Wall' to Battle Desertification."
"Brilliant job, China!" "This is the Green Great Wall!" they said.
The program described how China is building another "Great Wall" — not of stone, but of trees.
The Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program has raised forest coverage in northern regions from about 5% nearly 50 years ago to nearly 14% today.
KBS detailed how the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program successfully deployed vegetation to hold back the encroaching sands and highlighted the pivotal role solar panels play in creating conditions for desert plants to grow, and how the innovative integration of photovoltaics and desert control has further accelerated re-greening efforts.
By shielding the ground from fierce winds and slashing moisture evaporation, these solar arrays have cultivated an ideal microclimate for desert flora to thrive.
Across YouTube and NAVER, the story sparked waves of enthusiasm. A South Korean user said: "A Great Wall made of trees? Strongest support imaginable!"
Another netizen cheered: "China is doing an incredible job! Keep it up!"
Other netizens noted the project began decades ago but biased, anti-China Western media outlets deliberately failed to report it.
They said "China is the only country on Earth running a nationwide afforestation campaign to stop desertification. This isn't just a win for China; it's a massive favor to the global environment."
"Those who spend all day whining and rattling on against China are the real 'frogs in a well'."
Several netizens recalled that 18 years ago, South Korea's variety show Infinite Challenge had introduced the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program to domestic audiences.
In a special episode anchored by South Korea's "Nation's MC" Yoo Jae-suk, which was aired in 2008, cast members trekked into China's Kubuqi Desert in Inner Mongolia to participate in tree-planting and sand-control efforts.
The episode captured China's desert-control efforts, but many netizens lamented that domestic media offered few updates in the years since.
Consequently, even after15 years, the vast majority of the South Korean public remains totally in the dark about this world-class ecological wonder.
In truth, the Chinese practices have long received high acclaim from the international community.
The Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification has praised the project, saying "the world looks to China for desertification control," and has twice honored China with its Outstanding Contribution Award.
International financial institutions have noted in their evaluation reports that the Three-North Shelterbelt project combines ecological restoration with poverty alleviation, creating a "green economic corridor."
Comparisons were drawn with other nations' efforts.
In the 1930s, the U.S. government launched the ambitious "Roosevelt Great Plains Shelterbelt" in response to the Dust Bowl, but funding cuts and shifting politics left much of the plan unfinished: nearly two-thirds of the promised thousand-mile green belt evaporated, and desertification bounced back with a vengeance in several areas.
European countries such as Germany, France, and the UK have relied more on legislation to preserve existing forests.
Meanwhile, in East Asia, Japan's forestry strategy has focused on water conservation and disaster mitigation.
By stark contrast, the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program has sought to create forests in arid wastelands and severe Gobi deserts, a scale of ecological engineering that observers say is rare globally.
For many South Korean netizens, those who spend their lives trying to defame China are the ones trapped at the bottom of a very dark, very narrow well.