THAAD protesters refuse to accept govt. survey on environmental impact

SEONGJU -- Local residents and activists campaigning against the deployment of an advanced US missile defense system said Sunday they will not accept the outcome of a government survey that ruled out the possibility of its serious environmental damage.On Saturday, the government announced the result of a survey of electromagnetic radiation and noise from the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in Seongju, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The defense ministry said the radiation leve

Aug. 13, 2017

Defense ministry says THAAD radar won't cause environmental damage

SEONGJU  -- The Ministry of Defense said Saturday the advanced US missile defense system deployed in a southern town won't cause any adverse effects to the local environment.Earlier in the day, the defense and environment ministries conducted their joint environmental survey of electromagnetic radiation and noise from the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in Seongju, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul.Two rocket launchers and a powerful X-band radar are operational at the new US For

Aug. 13, 2017

Seoul city govt. tests soil, water near US base for contamination

The Seoul city government conducted its own survey on soil and water near the US base in the central part of the capital for possible contamination with toxic chemicals on Wednesday, amid growing calls for the disclosure of pollution levels in the area. Officials from the Seoul Metropolitan Government visited the outer areas of the US military base in Yongsan to examine the soil and groundwater, according to the city government.They selected six spots outside the fenced-off military camps to ext

Aug. 9, 2017

Korean top diplomat meets with chief of UN Environment Programme

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha discussed ways to improve South Korea's collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme during her meeting with the chief of the UN group on Wednesday, her ministry said. Kang called on UNEP Executive-General Erik Solheim to pay more interest to helping resolve trans-boundary air pollution in Northeast Asia, including the fine dust problem, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. She also committed South Korea's efforts to implement the Paris Agreement o

Aug. 9, 2017

Korea steps up efforts to strengthen sovereignty over biological resources

South Korea has been making efforts to classify indigenous species of biological resources as the country joins the global fray to secure sovereignty over them, a state-run think tank said Tuesday.Classification on what kinds of animals and plants inhabit the country is a vital step toward its endeavor to keep its sovereignty over biological resources.The National Institute of Biological Resources, affiliated with the Environment Ministry, said it had nurtured a batch of 40 researchers, who have

Aug. 8, 2017

Invasive seaweed off Jeju originates from China: report

JEJU -- A highly invasive macroalgae species which has impacted the waters off South Korea's largest island of Jeju comes from an east Chinese archipelago, a local think tank said Monday.The South Korean resort island is plagued in spring and summer by inflows of the alien seaweed, known as Sargassum horneri, which smells bad and ruins the landscape.In a report, the Jeju Research Institute confirmed that the algae drifts into Jeju waters from the Zhoushan Islands, an archipelago in the east Chin

Aug. 7, 2017

Warmer climate, urban development causing spike in cockroach infestations

Warmer climate and urban development has caused a spike in the number of cockroaches being caught in South Korea, a local pest control company said Sunday.According to Cesco, it counted over 2.39 million cockroaches in 2016, up a sharp 18.1 percent from around 2.02 million in the previous year.It said last year's numbers are 28.5 percent greater than the average annual infestations reported in the 2012-2016 period. During this time, the total pest solutions company reported getting rid of over 1

Aug. 6, 2017

Increased deposits on empty bottles lead to hike in return for recycling

The government's implementation of raising deposits on recyclable empty bottles caused more people to return them for money in the first half of the year, the Environment Ministry said Wednesday.According to the ministry, the rate of empty beer and soju bottles that consumers returned under a "money back for your empty bottles" scheme rose from an average of 30 percent last year to 47 percent in the January-June period.The ministry attributed the rise to a government measure, effective in Januar

Aug. 2, 2017

Storm Noru approaches Korea

Storm Noru is fast approaching waters off Jeju Island.According to the Jeju regional office of the Korea Meteorological Administration, Storm Noru is moving northwest at a speed of 13 kph from waters south of Tokyo, Japan. Its peak winds reach 47 meters per second.  (NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team)Meteorologists predict the storm will reach waters near Jeju Island on Saturday or Sunday. Storm Noru has been slowly weakening from Monday, but it is still expected to be one of the most inten

Aug. 1, 2017

Korea, Japan discuss cooperation on environmental issues

Officials from South Korea and Japan have discussed bilateral collaboration on environmental issues, the foreign ministry here said Friday.In the 19th meeting of the countries' joint environmental cooperation committee held a day earlier in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, the two sides discussed cooperation in removing maritime trash and protecting migratory birds, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Yonhap)Also on the agenda was regional and multilateral coope

June 30, 2017

Presidential office defends reactor construction suspension

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday defended the government's decision to temporarily suspend the construction of two nuclear reactors, saying it was made after "painstaking deliberations."On Tuesday, Cheong Wa Dae announced that the government will halt the construction of the reactors in Ulsan, 414 kilometers southeast of Seoul, while it collects public opinion over the fate of the reactors. The final decision will be made by a group of "citizen jurors," it said. This image, pro

June 28, 2017

[Weekender] Deadly heat waves to be the norm by 2100

High temperatures can kill a person in a number of ways, and each year reports of an elderly individual dying during a heat wave makes the headlines in South Korea. However, such incidents could become a regular occurrence with summers set to be filled with killer heatwaves by 2100, should carbon dioxide emissions increase at the current rate, researchers warn. (123RF)According to research, led by Camilo Mora of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Seoul will have up to 67 days of deadly heat wave

June 25, 2017

[Weekender] Frogs, flowers in January -- Climate change's impact on Korea

The Korean Peninsula can’t escape global warming. Every year heat wave warnings come earlier and earlier, and record temperatures no longer come as a surprise. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, Korea’s annual average temperature has increased by 1.7 degrees Celsius between 1912 and 2008. In comparison, the global average saw an increase of 0.74 degrees Celsius over the same period. Korea’s faster climate change is thought to have been aggravated by rapid urbanization. “About

June 25, 2017

Air pollution causes 14,000 additional deaths a year in Korea: report

About 14,000 people are dying prematurely every year in South Korea as a result of air pollution, a medical professor said Monday, citing a report by the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.Cheong Hae-kwan, a professor at the Medical College of Seoul's Sungkyunkwan University, said during a seminar that the number of premature deaths in South Korea caused by air pollution was tallied at 13,703 in 2013 in the IHME report.This May 2017 file photo shows people looking at the landsc

June 12, 2017

Korea, Japan, China agree to beef up cooperation on Arctic issues

South Korea, Japan and China agreed Thursday to strengthen cooperation for environmental protection and scientific research in the Arctic, the foreign ministry said."Climate change is affecting the vulnerable Arctic ecosystems, the livelihoods of local inhabitants and indigenous communities on a global scale, while the melting of ice brings new opportunities, such as natural resources and marine fisheries, in the Arctic, as well as the opening of sea routes," the three countries said in a joint

June 8, 2017

GGGI head praises shutdown of coal power plants in Korea

President Moon Jae-in's decision to shut down aged coal-fired power plants is a very encouraging first step toward switching one of the world's largest nuclear-powered countries into a renewable energy leader, the head of the Global Green Growth Institute, a Seoul-based global organization on environmental-friendly development, said. GGGI Director-General Frank Rijsberman said during an interview on Friday in Jeju Island that Korea is quite behind China and Japan in terms of clean energy use, ur

June 4, 2017

Korea to open six dammed reservoirs to improve inland water quality

The South Korean government said Monday six dammed reservoirs set aside for irrigation will remain open from Thursday as part of an effort to prevent water quality from deteriorating further.Six out of 16 dammed pools on the "four rivers" built for irrigation will be opened from 2 p.m. in a move to help resolve their serious green algae problems. But they will maintain set water levels in order to provide agricultural water for nearby farmers during the rice planting season which has just begun,

May 29, 2017

Local builders jittery about new govt. eco-friendly energy policy

Environment-friendly energy policies pledged by the Moon Jae-in administration are raising concerns among local builders, which fear power plant construction projects may take a hit, industry officials said Thursday.The chief executive said during his campaign that he will stop all new construction of coal-fired power plants and review from scratch those that are less than 10 percent complete. He also promised to cease and cancel nuclear power plant construction and shut down older reactors, whi

May 25, 2017

Fine dust included as category in emergency disaster mobile messaging

The government will send an emergency message to people in Seoul and its satellite cities via mobile phone if severe fine dust is forecast in the region, the public security ministry said Sunday. "Once the message, called cell broadcast service, is issued, public agencies are obliged to follow the government's emergency steps to reduce fine dust in the air, including the introduction of the two-day rotation system for cars and shorter working hours at job and construction sites," the ministry sa

April 16, 2017

Seoul schools to minimize outdoor activities when fine dust levels rise

Students in Seoul will be prohibited from participating in outdoor activities when fine dust levels are high, the city’s education authority said Monday, as it steps up measures to prevent health damage caused by air pollution. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education notified primary to high schools in Seoul to refrain from outdoor activities when fine dust concentration levels exceed 50 micrograms per cubic meter and 25 micrograms per cubic meter for ultrafine dust.(Yonhap)Under the new guid

April 13, 2017