Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Single-use plastic bags banned at stores
A shopper puts groceries into a reusable bag at a discount store in central Seoul, Monday, when the new regulation on banning plastic bags took effect after a grace period. /Yonhap
By Bahk Eun-ji
By Bahk Eun-ji
The government has now imposed a complete ban on single-use plastic bags at grocery stores and large-sized supermarkets, in an effort to reduce plastic pollution and encourage the reuse of recyclables.
The Ministry of Environment said Monday the measure was going into effect following a three-month grace period.
Discount stores, department stores, shopping malls and supermarkets larger than 165 square meters in size should not provide single-use plastic bags to customers but offer recyclable containers, cloth or paper bags, or plastic trash bags.
Violators will be subject to a maximum fine of 3 million won ($2,650).
But plastic bag packaging will be allowed for wet, moisture-containing food such as tofu, fish, shellfish and meat, as well as products that can melt like ice cream and certain vegetables.
Smaller-sized mom-and-pop stores, traditional markets, and bakeries can still provide single-use plastic bags but only with a charge ― free provision will be prohibited.
The ministry said it expects the nation to reduce the use of plastic bags by around 2.2 billion pieces per year.