Activists call for ocean dumping ban

Members of Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, along with Japanese environmentalists, stage a rally at Gwagnhwamun Plaza in downtown Seoul, Monday, urging the government to ban dumping wastewater into the ocean. / Korea Times photo by Kim Jae-won

By Kim Jae-won

Environmental activists said Monday that Korea is the only country in the world which dumps industrial wastewater into the ocean, calling for the government to find ways of stopping it.

About 10 members of the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM), along with three activists from Japan, said that the country still dumps toxic industrial wastewater in three zones in the East Sea and the West Sea ― all of them are international waters.

“Oceans are not a trash bin, but Korea has dumped 130 million tons of waste into the ocean for the last 25 years. What is more shameful is that we are the only country in the world which continues to do so,” said Choi Ye-yong, vice president of the organization, in a press conference.

According to KFEM, Korea is the only country that bans ocean dumping by law, observing London Convention and Protocol, an international agreement signed in 1972 and revised in 1996.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries says that it still allows the dumping into the ocean because it is cheaper than burying it underground.

“Small companies prefer ocean dumping because it costs less than dumping into landfills,” said Yu Seon-hyeong, an official from the ministry.

Yu said that people do not need to worry too much because only wastewater and sludge are dumped into the seas. He said other types of waste are now banned as called for in the protocol.

However, environmentalists say that it is disappointing that the ministry, which is supposed to protect the ocean, is busy protecting corporate interests. They claim that the ministry is lobbied by hundreds of ocean-dumping firms.

“The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries is lobbied by some 300 ocean-dumping firms which oppose any ban. The ministry hosted hearings on the issue with the companies only three times, excluding environmentalists and fishers,” Choi of KFEM told reporters in the news conference.

Furuya Sugio, an activist from Japan who joined the anti-ocean-dumping campaign, said it is an international issue which Korea must heed.

“It is easy to dump wastewater into oceans, but it will be difficult to recover it from pollution. I hope the Korean government will stop it as soon as possible,” said Sugio, the secretary general of Japan Occupational Safety and Health Resource Center.