Tons of trash litter Korean beaches

Trash floods Haeundae Beach. / Korea Times file

By Yeo Ye-rim

As summer temperatures rise and Koreans head to the beach for relief, the pile of garbage left behind is also rising.

Among the trash are beer cans, water bottles, leftover chicken, watermelon rinds and dirty clothes.

Early Thursday, Busan’s Haeundae Beach was covered in rubbish after a long night of partying, creating a big task for workers and volunteers to clean it up. In the end, after hours of work, they piled up 13 tons of trash -- twice the amount during low season.

Meanwhile, complaints about beach cleanliness continue.

At Daecheon Beach in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province, 30 tons of trash pile up each day, with only 60 workers to remove it.

“Foreigners clean up their mess after using a public space, but Koreans seem to evade such environmental responsibility,” said an authority of Haeundae district, pointing out Koreans’ lack of civic consciousness.