The Ara Canal or Gyeongin Ara Waterway (Korean: 경인 아라뱃길) is a canal in South Korea linking the Han River to the Yellow Sea, bypassing the Korean Demilitarized Zone that the river's estuary lies in.

The canal was built to control flooding, improve shipping logistics, and provide recreational opportunities.

To address the issue, a project to floodproof the river was undertaken, starting with a five-year survey.

[2] The Gyeongin Ara Canal project plan was developed, and after discussions, Hyundai Engineering & Construction was selected as the main contractor in 1995.

[2] It began in 1995, when, due to economic and environmental concerns, public opinion turned against the project.

These high-benefit estimations were made under the assumption that the then-present economic boom in South Korea would continue.

After the IMF crisis passed in 2002, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation commissioned the Korea Development Institute (KDI) to report on the economic feasibility of the canal.

[2] In August 2004, the Ministry commissioned an independent report from Dehabe, a Dutch canal consulting company, and received a cost-benefit score of 1.76 in March 2007.

An opposition member of the National Assembly observed that if this was true, the spillway would have been constructed at half the size, and suggested that the analysis had been purposefully misleading in order to drive business.

[2] Controversy again resurfaced in the summer of 2010, when heavy rain caused extensive damage near the Ara Canal.