Two Korean priests are publicly fasting outside a government building in the latest protest against the highly controversial Four Rivers project.

Fathers Joseph Cho Hae-bung and Paul Suh Sang-geen began their fast in front of the Seoul Regional Construction Management Administration, the government office which handles the project, on Aug. 12.

They have vowed to remain there without food or drink until Aug. 18. Fasting by turns, Father Suh will be there for the first two days and Father Cho for the following five.

Father Cho is president and Father Suh chief coordinator of the Catholic Solidarity for Deterrence of the Four Rivers Project.

In a statement they read out before the fast, they said, "The reason why Catholic priests and clergymen of other religions object to the project is simple. It is meaningless to develop the economy at the cost of ecology. "We will offer our fast as a sacrifice for the dying rivers and pray for the lives that remain in them."

On each day of their fast, the priests plan to celebrate a Mass for life and peace at a chapel in the nearby Franciscan Education Center.

At the end of the protest, they will gather with other members of the Solidarity to celebrate a Mass for the repentance of Moses Kim Moon-soo, the Catholic governor of Gyeonggi-do province, who supports the project.

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