Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
9 in 10 Koreans believe country faces climate crisis: poll
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By Jung Min-ho
Nearly nine out of 10 Koreans think their country is facing a climate crisis, a poll showed on Tuesday.
According to a survey conducted by Korea’s national weather agency, 89.9 percent of 1,706 respondents said they believe global warming is bringing their country to a crisis ― a result demonstrating an overwhelmingly united public view on the issue.
Even more people (90.1 percent) said they have felt it is already affecting their lives through unusual weather patterns, and a fall in the production of certain grains among other changes; more than 92 percent said they think monitoring of climate change is important.
Of those worried about its impact, 53.8 percent said the most vulnerable area of concern is heat waves, followed by heavy rains and floods (27.5 percent) and drought (8.3 percent).
When asked about the most affected age groups, 30.1 percent said young children, followed by elderly people (26.7 percent) and adolescents (15.8 percent).
The survey shows that people think rising temperatures will cause many problems, including inflation, ecological change and more diseases.
All of these findings show a high level of climate change awareness and recognition among people in Korea. According to a survey released last year by Pew Research, 71 percent of Americans said they believe the climate crisis is causing at least some harm to people in their country.