Civic groups nationwide on Thursday launched a campaign aimed at collecting ten million signatures opposing a controversial cross-country canal project.

The pan-South Korea waterway project proposed by President Lee Myung-bak remains hotly contested, with scholars and experts questioning its cost-efficiency and raising concerns over associated environmental risks.

President Lee, who has been in office since February, pledged during the election that he will push for the building of a cross-country canal. He said the 3,100-kilometer-long waterway network would cut the nation's logistics costs by a third, promote balanced regional development, create thousands of jobs and boost tourism. The project would consist of 17 routes, including a 540-kilometer Seoul-Busan waterway, he said.

In a press communique, the civic groups called upon the community to back their campaign in order to force the government to stop the project.

"The project is being carried on behind closed doors, without the consensus of people. We started this campaign to let people nationwide know the irrationality and danger of the project."

SEOUL, April 24 (Yonhap)