A group of Buddhist monks opposing the government's four-river improvement project has issued a statement calling for the immediate halt of the project.

In a news conference on Thursday at the Jogye Temple in Seoul, the group said that a record number of 48-hundred Buddhist monks have signed the statement.

In the statement, the group said that the government should suspend the related construction works, select one specific trial area to examine the feasibility of the project in order to decide on whether to proceed with the project.

The group said it will hold on July 17th a memorial gathering at a plaza in front of the City Hall in memory of Venerable Munsu who burned himself in May in protest of the river restoration project.