pollution
Don't Waste That Banchan: Where South Korea's Food Waste Goes
Kimchis, fresh vegetables, fruit, fish, seafood, meat, pickles, pancakes…. One of the many pleasures of dining out in South Korea is the selection of banchan, or side dishes, that accompanies most meals. But seldom — if ever — do all banchan get eaten. Diners take a few mouthfuls of this
South Korea's Fine Dust Financiers
As South Korea’s serious air pollution problems persist, two of the country’s largest banks have sparked anger by financing new coal-fired power plants, a major source of domestically generated particulate matter (PM). PM, popularly known as fine dust, has been labeled a “social disaster” in South Korea. Yet
Do I Need to Wear a Face Mask in South Korea?
Walk along the street in any South Korean city and you’ll see plenty of people wearing surgical-style face masks. Covering the nose and mouth and held in place by elastic loops that reach back behind the ears, the masks are cheap and sold in almost all convenience stores and
Last Murmurations of a Destroyed Wetland
Once, you could stand in the middle of the Saemangeum estuary at low tide and look out on a vast expanse of shimmering gray mud seemingly as boundless as the ocean itself, a landscape pockmarked with thousands of tiny volcanoes and home to diverse species of wildlife. All of that
Pretty and Polluted: Jeju Overfilling With Tourists
2011 was a busy year for the civil servants of Jeju Island. South Korea’s most famous island — bar Dokdo — had made the shortlist for the so-called “new seven wonders of nature.” With no restrictions on the number of telephone votes cast by each individual, Jeju’s public
US Military Contaminates Central Seoul Neighborhood
Critics of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 claimed the United States was moving into a foreign territory in order to take its oil. But here’s a new one: The U.S. military occupies a swathe of foreign soil for 65 years, fills it with oil, then moves out.
Four Rivers Project: Explained
President Moon Jae-in has been in office for less than two weeks, but he already has a considerable list of achievements. He made radical appointments for his secretariat and cabinet, and elevated several women to positions of prominence. He ordered the abolition of the much-hated history textbooks, championed by Park
Truth of Contamination at U.S. Military's Yongsan Garrison Begins to Emerge
South Korean environmental campaigners won a significant victory against the country’s environment ministry on Tuesday. Minbyun (Lawyers for a Democratic Society), a civil rights NGO, had sued the environment minister in a bid to force the disclosure of information about environmental pollution on U.S. Army Garrison
Don't Let Go: Those Balloons Can Kill
Earlier this month, Lotte Corporation launched thousands of balloons into the air to mark the opening of its World Tower in Seoul. It was a beautiful sight, and a typical practice at such occasions. Balloons are released into the sky all the time: at weddings, ceremonies, parties; even
Seoul Had the Second-Worst Air Quality in the World This Morning
Early this morning, Seoul had the second-worst air quality in the world, after New Delhi. According to AirVisual, an air quality monitoring site, things improved somewhat in Seoul as time went on. But as of noon local time, the South Korean capital was still in 8th place for terrible
Weekly Brief: Dec. 5th - 11th
Corruption at heart of Presidential scandal In a rare scene, lawmakers questioned the CEOs of nine major conglomerates on live television. The CEOs represent the largest companies in the country, each suspected of buying favors from the government through Choi Soon-sil, the President’s confidante. The most common answer? “I