South Korea - The Korea Times

Man reported to police for allegedly abusing dog in public

A man pulls his dog on a leash up and down in Eunpyeong District, north western Seoul, in this screenshot from a video uploaded by the local animal rights activist group, Care, on Facebook. / Screenshot from Care's Facebook pageBy Lee Hae-rinAn animal rights group reported a man to the police, Monday, for violating the Animal Protection Act. He allegedly yanked aggressively on his dog's leash, lifting the animal off the ground.The report came a day after the group, Care, uploaded a video of the man on its Facebook and Instagram accounts, asking for internet users' help in finding the alleged animal abuser from Eunpyeong District. In the video clip, the man repeatedly lifts the dog off the ground by the leash as if he were playing with a yo-yo, and then beats the dog with his hand. This video went viral and enraged many internet users.Activists from the organization found the dog owner, 82, on Monday morning. “The man did not understand that what he did was animal abuse and told us he treated the dog in such manner because he was 'angry,'” Kim Young-hwan, the head of the a

Jan 11, 2022By Lee Hae-rin

Man reported to police for allegedly abusing dog in public

Up to 3 cm of snow forecast for Seoul overnight

Snow falling in Seoul is seen in this Jan. 18, 2021 file photo. Korea Times file Snow will fall in the capital area and central inland regions between Monday evening and Tuesday morning, according to the state weather agency, which forecast up to 3 centimeters in Seoul.The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said that snow clouds formed in the Yellow Sea ― after cold air from the northwest met relatively warm air ― were tracking toward the peninsula.As the snow cloud belt moves eastward, snow will begin to fall on the west coast of Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, and the northwest coast of South Chungcheong Province, the KMA said.Snow will then spread to the greater Seoul area and inland, and mountain areas of Gangwon, Chungcheong, Jeolla and Gyeongsang provinces, until early Tuesday morning, it added.Up to 30 cm of snow was forecast for Jeju Island's mountain areas and the East Sea island of Ulleung.The KMA warned drivers in the affected areas to be

Jan 10, 2022

Up to 3 cm of snow forecast for Seoul overnight

How snow looks around the world

Tiger cub dies in Everland Zootopia

Female tiger cub "Gangsan" at Zootopia in Everland Resort, above, died on Jan. 8 after choking on food prepared by the facility. Courtesy of Everland ResortBy Ko Dong-hwanA seven-month-old tiger cub that was born and raised inside a Korean zoo has died on Jan. 8 after being fed and choking on its food.The female cub named “Gangsan” ate beef left inside its indoor cell at Zootopia inside the large-scale theme park, Everland Resort, in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Shortly after, a caretaker at the facility saw the cub suddenly beginning to move more lethargically than before and realized that it wasn't breathing normally. The cub was immediately brought to a separate confinement area apart from its four siblings where it received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Despite the procedure, the cub died at the scene.Veterinarians at the zoo performed an autopsy on Gangsan and sent the results and its video records to a professor at Seoul National University's College of Veterinary Medicine for further confirmation of the cause of the cub's death. The following response came bac

Jan 10, 2022By Ko Dong-hwan

Fine dust blankets nation

Heavy fine dust covers central Seoul, Monday. Many parts of the nation have been beset by “very bad” levels of ultrafine dust since Sunday. The dust is forecast to be dissipated by strong winds this afternoon, as a cold spell is expected to grip the nation. Yonhap

Jan 10, 2022By Lee Hae-rin

54.5, 51.8 degrees Celsius…cities across globe saw record-breaking heat in 2021

The thermometer at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center at Death Valley National Park in California shows temperatures reading 54 degrees Celsius, June 16, 2021. REUTERS-Yonhap By Ko Dong-hwanTo see how badly climate change is shaking the world, people just need to examine last year's record temperatures experienced across the globe to realize how high the mercury can soar at any given location.Ten cities in different countries witnessed their highest temperatures in 2021, beating national records. According to British daily The Guardian, the countries were Oman, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Canada, the United States, Morocco, Turkey, Taiwan, Italy, Tunisia and Dominica. The world's highest record-breaking temperature was in Furnace Creek in Death Valley, California, at 54.4 degrees Celsius, July 9 ― the highest reliably recorded temperature on Earth, according to the daily. The figure narrowly beat the region's record temperature from 2020 by 0.56 of a degree Celsiu

Jan 10, 2022By Ko Dong-hwan

54.5, 51.8 degrees Celsius…cities across globe saw record-breaking heat in 2021

Fine dust blankets much of Korea again

Seoul is covered by heavy fine dust, Jan. 10. YonhapFine dust plagued most parts of South Korea on Monday due to air stagnation caused by the high atmospheric pressure in the west, weather authorities said.As of 8 a.m., the density of ultrafine dust, called PM 2.5, had hit the "very bad" level for the greater Seoul area, North Chuncheong Province and the central city of Sejong, and the southeastern city of Daegu, according to the Comprehensive Air-quality Index.The level for other parts of the country was "bad," except for the island of Jeju, where it was "moderate."The density of PM 10 fine dust registered "bad" in much of the country, including the greater Seoul area, central Chuncheong provinces, eastern Gangwon Province, and southeastern North Gyeongsang and North Jeolla provinces.It was "moderate" in other southern parts, including Jeju Island.Morning temperatures were minus 3.3 degrees Celsius in Seoul, minus 3 C in Incheon and minus 4.4 C in the central city of Daejeon at 8 a.m., while much warmer in southeastern cities of Ulsan and Busan at 2.6 C and 4.2 C, respectively. Temp

Jan 10, 2022

Renewable energy output hits 4.8 GW in 2021, again surpassing gov't goal

Floating solar panels near Hapcheon Dam in South Gyeongsang Province's Hapcheon County with a 41 megawatt capacity started operating in November 2021. Courtesy of the Ministry of Environment By Ko Dong-hwanThe Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Jan. 5 that the country's total renewable energy output in 2021 was 4.8 gigawatts (GW), surpassing the government's goal by 0.2 GW. Solar power contributed most of the clean power last year, with 4.4 GW generated. Wind turbines contributed 0.1 GW, while that from biomass and other renewable sources reached 0.3 GW.The accomplishment marks the fourth consecutive year that national renewable energy output has surpassed annual goals since 2018, the year before the country launched its Renewable Energy 3020 Plan ― boosting renewable sources-based output to 20 percent of the country's overall power generation by 2030. As of last year, the country's accumulated renewable energy output had reached almost 29 GW, out of which

Jan 7, 2022By Ko Dong-hwan

Renewable energy output hits 4.8 GW in 2021, again surpassing gov't goal

Millions of farmed honey bees in Haenam mysteriously vanish

A beekeeper checks a farmed beehive soaked with honey. GettyimagesbankBy Ko Dong-hwanMillions of farmed honey bees in Haenam County have been mysteriously killed or have disappeared, prompting the local government to investigate the cause.The incident started last September. Until recently, ten farms in the county in South Jeolla Province had reported the issue. Five of the farms said more than 80 percent of their bees were killed or had gone missing, while the rest of the farms said the damage reached more than 50 percent of their colonies. There are about 80 honey bee farms with about 20,000 hives altogether in the county. Reports cited the farm owners saying that the bees that vanished mostly last December and this month, probably left their hives for some unknown reasons and died due to the winter cold. A county official said it is “extremely rare that such a large number of honey bees suddenly vanished during the December-January period.”The county's bee farmers association said they first thought this mass killing and vanishing was because of a certain disease sweep

Jan 6, 2022By Ko Dong-hwan

Millions of farmed honey bees in Haenam mysteriously vanish

Plastic cups in coffee shops to be banned again

Plastic cups are stacked at a coffee shop, central Seoul, Thursday. The use of disposable products at coffee shops and restaurants, which has been allowed amid COVID-19 pandemic, will be banned again from April. NewsisBy Lee Hae-rinSingle-use plastic cups will be banned at coffee shops for sit-in customers again from April 1, as the environment authorities are gradually lifting temporary permissions to use such products during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry of Environment announced the measure, Thursday, aiming to tackle the increasing volume of plastic waste and discourage use of disposable products in the food service business.The ban on plastic cups in coffee shops, except for to-go orders, has been in place here since August 2018. However, since the breakout of the COIVD-19 pandemic in early 2020 the ministry allowed local governments to temporarily permit use of disposable products at cafes out of concerns of virus spread through regular cups.The exceptive regulation has received criticism over its fairness, as restaurants have been obliged to use multiuse cutlery, dishes a

Jan 6, 2022By Lee Hae-rin

Plastic cups in coffee shops to be banned again

Presidential candidates' climate pledges mocked by activists

Activists from Beyond Coal, dressed up as this year's four presidential candidates, from left, Ahn Cheol-soo, Sim Sang-jeung, Yoon Suk-yeol and Lee Jae-myung, during an anti-coal street performance in front of the Korea Federation for Environmental Movements' office in Seoul's Jongno District, Jan. 5, to protest the candidates' lack of climate pledges. Courtesy of Beyond Coal By Ko Dong-hwanWith the presidential election in Korea a little more than two months away, the candidates have been making pledges related to various subjects and appealing to different groups of people. However, it remains questionable and unclear how concerned the candidates are about climate change and how seriously they take the environmental commitment required to fight it. One of Korea's environmental activist groups, Beyond Coal, took to the streets of Seoul to challenge the four leading candidates in a unique way: parodying their pledges dealing with carbon-intensive coal energy in a skit that portrayed them engaging in a mock coal-sweeping race. Outside of the office of another major activist group, the