Anchor: The endangered oriental stork is designated as a natural monument in Korea. Once considered extinct on the peninsula, a set of the birds have been released back into nature after 20 years of research and artificial reproduction.
Our Park Jong-hong has this report.
 
Report: Eight successfully reproduced oriental storks have been released into the wild. 
 
The Ministry of Environment, the Cultural Heritage Administration and Korea National University of Education freed the birds at Yesan, South Chuncheong Province on Thursday. 
 
Onlookers from home and abroad attended the ceremony, with one saying it was heartening and exhilarating to see the storks fly into the sky.
 
Storks, which have a wingspan of up to two meters, are the largest birds on the Korean Peninsula. They were commonly found in Korea in the past but their numbers have dwindled since the 1970s due to massive land developments. 
 
Since then, the stork has been designated as Korea’s natural monument number 199 and is considered one of the rarest bird species with an estimate of two-thousand-500 living around the world. 
 
In 1996, the South Korea government joined forces with academia to restore the species, starting with two storks sent from Russia. In the intervening two decades, they managed to breed up to 160 storks, the world’s 4th successful attempt at artificially breeding the rare birds. 
 
The head of the Eco Institute of Oriental Stork at the Korea National University of Education Park Shi-ryong said they initiated the restoration as storks represent the pinnacle of the ecological system and restoring them will lead to the revival of other species. 
 
The recently released birds are equipped with tracking devices, which will be used in researching their habitats and movements. 
 
Professor Yasuo Izaki from the University of Hyogo in Japan said it is important to create a new habitat for the birds and that concerted efforts by the government, communities and schools should take part in the process.
 
The South Korean researchers plan to release around 10 storks every year until 2018 and aim to secure some 50 domestic habitats within 100 years. 
Park Jong-hong, KBS World Radio News.