[Korea.net News, Nation, February 1 2008] President-elect receives Time magazine environment award

President-elect Lee Myung-bak received an award on Friday (Feb. 1) for being one of TIME magazine’s Heroes of the Environment for 2007.

The U.S. magazine began giving "Heroes of the Environment" awards in 2006 to selected world leaders who greatly contributed to enhancing the environment by solving related issues.

The awardees include Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and Prince Charles of the United Kingdom.

Time magazine selected Lee in May 2006 for the restoration of Cheonggyecheon stream in downtown Seoul, which had been covered over during the 1960s, in order to make the city green and more environmentally-friendly during his term as Seoul’s mayor from 2002 to 2006. Lee’s reform of the city’s transportation system also received global praise.