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| A statue of primitive man in Daegu has drawn criticism from people who want the city's district office to remove it. /Courtesy of Dalseo-gu Office |
By Kim Se-jeong
Nearly 1,200 Daegu residents filed a petition with the city's district council to remove a statue of a primitive man in their neighborhood.
The Dalseo-gu Council of southwestern Daegu will examine the petition late next month when they meet for a session, while the Dalseo-gu Office which spearheaded the statue project wants to keep the statue.
Twenty-two meters long and 6.8 meters high, the plaster statue in Wolseong-dong depicts a primitive man lying on his side. In 2006, 13,000 Stone Age artifacts and dolmen were discovered at an apartment construction site in the district and the city preserved the site and neighboring area.
The district office spent 200 million won for the statue and 300 million on neighborhood landscaping to boost the area as a tourist attraction.
Lee Je-seok, a prominent designer who also designed last year's presidential election poster for Ahn Cheol-soo, designed the statue.
Opposition to the statue is strong from neighbors who think it is ugly.
"It is big and ugly. It stresses me a lot and I began seeing a doctor for the stress," a business owner who runs a Korean restaurant right behind the statue said.
A member of a church located next to the statue also agreed with the restaurant owner.
"Church members dislike the statue which stands right in front of the church," the person said.
"It reminds me of a big tomb," another resident said.
"It was supposed to be 100 meters from here. But when the original plan was canceled, they moved the statue here without asking residents," another resident said. "It's a waste of taxpayers' money."
Dalseo-gu office was adamant about the statue project, claiming it will eventually benefit the residents.
"It can draw some tourists," a district official said. "We still have a couple of things to finish with tree planting and landscape work. When it's done, things will be beautiful and people will like it eventually."
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