Choi Won-suk is a photojournalist at The Korea Times. Before joining the newspaper, he also worked as a photojournalist with AFP and St. Joseph News-Press in Missouri. He spent 13 years in the United States, graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism degree (Cum Laude) from the University of Missouri - Columbia and a Master of Arts in Photography from Ohio University - Athens. Over the past 11 years, Choi covered various news events such as presidential elections, the 2019 North Korea-United States Hanoi Summit and 2022 Qatar World Cup. But above all, Choi believes in local journalism and finds a lot of joy telling life stories of ordinary citizens in small neighborhoods.
South Korea investigates tonnes of illegal trash sent back from Philippines
South Korea on Thursday (February 7) launched an investigation into containers of rubbish which were unlawfully exported to the Philippines and recently returned.
According to South Korea's Environment Ministry, 51 containers carrying 1,200 tonnes of trash were illegally exported to Cagayan de Oro port in Mindanao of the Philippines last year and returned to Pyeongtaek port on Sunday (February 3).
Philippine media reported that the shipments were declared as plastic synthetic flakes when they had instead contained wood, glass and electronic waste, as well as plastic.
Director of the government-affiliated Han River Basin Environmental Office, Lee Jong-Min, said authorities had investigated the waste exporting company and will work towards preventing such an incident from happening again. A remaining 5,100 tonnes of wrongfully exported waste, which is still in Mindanao, will also be ship back to South Korea, the ministry added. (Reuters)