South Korea - The Korea Times

Baseball waste surges faster than attendance despite KBO's green pledge

Behind the Korean baseball league's record-breaking popularity, another statistic has been climbing even faster: waste. While the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League drew more than 12 million spectators last season, the amount of trash generated at stadiums has increased at an even steeper rate, raising concerns that the league has failed to follow through on its environmental commitments. Ahead of Environment Day, June 5, The Hankook Ilbo analyzed data on annual general waste generation submitted by the KBO to the office of Rep. Lee Hack-young of the National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee. The analysis found that waste production at baseball stadiums has been growing significantly faster than attendance, prompting criticism that the country's most successful professional sports league has made little progress on environmental issues. Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, home to the LG Twins and Doosan Bears, recorded the most striking increase. General waste generated at the stadium rose 132.2 percent, from 214.44 tons in 2023 to 497.94 tons last year. During the same peri

May 30, 2026By Hankookilbo

Baseball waste surges faster than attendance despite KBO's green pledge

As record heat looms, Seoul deploys high-tech fog, canopies to cool residents

Facing forecasts of an unseasonably brutal summer and the earliest heat-related fatality on record, municipal authorities here are transforming the capital’s public spaces into a fortified network of cooling zones to combat extreme urban temperatures. The seasonal counteroffensive, scheduled to run through Sept. 30, comes after the Korea Meteorological Administration projected that mean temperatures this summer will significantly exceed seasonal norms. The threat took on new urgency when a heat-related death was recorded on May 15 — the earliest such fatality since the country established its emergency room heat illness surveillance system in 2011. To protect pedestrians in a sprawling metropolis dominated by asphalt and concrete, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is rolling out an array of architectural and mechanical interventions. Among the additions are "Happiso" zones — air-dome-equipped outdoor cooling shelters — scheduled to be pitched at 14 high-traffic landmarks, including Gwanghwamun Square and Cheonggye Plaza. The city will also deploy large canopy-style shade structu

May 28, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

As record heat looms, Seoul deploys high-tech fog, canopies to cool residents

Korea deploys drones to regrow scorched woodlands

In a novel marriage of automotive innovation and environmental conservation, Korea is turning to electric vehicle technology and autonomous drones to heal its wildfire-scarred landscapes. The Korea Forest Service, led by Commissioner Park Eun-sik, signed a landmark partnership Tuesday with automotive giant Hyundai Motor and social enterprise Tree Planet. The tripartite agreement, finalized during a ceremony at the National Institute of Forest Science, establishes a joint framework for eco-driven corporate governance aimed at tackling the climate crisis through smart, tech-driven forestry. At the center of the initiative is the "Ioniq Drone Station," a cutting-edge system that integrates Hyundai’s smart mobility technology with aerial drones to monitor and restore damaged ecosystems. The specialized stations, leveraging electric vehicle systems, serve as mobile command hubs that can deploy and manage drones in remote terrain. Under the new framework, this technology will be deployed across several critical fronts, including IT-based forest management, smart ecological restoration and

May 27, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

Korea deploys drones to regrow scorched woodlands

Korea National Park Service tracks threatened alpine plants amid climate shifts

As rising global temperatures reshape high-altitude environments, Korea has launched its first comprehensive ecological ledger of the peninsula’s alpine plants, cataloging species that scientists warn are vulnerable to climate change. The National Park Service, an agency under the Ministry of Environment, announced the publication of the "Ecological Guide to Alpine Plants of the Korean Peninsula." The guide marks the culmination of a four-year joint research initiative with the Korean Society of Plant Taxonomists. Researchers systematically surveyed nine mountain-type national parks with peaks exceeding 1,000 meters — including Mount Seorak, Mount Jiri and Mount Halla — along with Mount Baekdu. The study classified 195 distinct species. Among them, 68 are strictly alpine plants thriving above the tree line, while 127 are subalpine species situated between the forest and tree lines. To aid public conservation efforts, the guide features high-resolution photography, distribution maps and ecological profiles for 151 core species, including the rare Arctous alpina (red bearberry) and

May 22, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

Korea National Park Service tracks threatened alpine plants amid climate shifts

Korea reports 24 African swine fever cases this year: data

Korea has reported 24 confirmed cases of African swine fever (ASF) as of this week in 2026, the agriculture ministry said Tuesday, vowing to take actions to prevent further spread of the contagious animal disease. The cases were reported from seven provinces, including Gyeonggi, Gangwon, South Chungcheong, South Jeolla and South Gyeongsang, between Jan. 16 and March 16, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. No additional cases have been reported since the middle of March. Of the 24 cases, three cases were of strains previously identified in domestic outbreaks, while 21 cases were found to be of strains that originated outside the country, the ministry said. Notably, ASF genes were detected in six undeclared illegal livestock products, suggesting the possible introduction of external sources of contamination, with three ASF cases that broke out at pig farms in the northern cities of Pocheon and Yeoncheon found to have been caused by transmission from wild boars, it added. With no further outbreaks reported for the past two months, the ministry has lifted standst

May 19, 2026By Yonhap

Korea reports 24 African swine fever cases this year: data

Korea to build at least 10 solar power complexes for renewable energy expansion

The government will create at least 10 massive solar power complexes in the central and eastern regions in a bid to expand Korea's renewable energy capacity to 100 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, the climate ministry said Tuesday. The scheme was announced as part of the government's 10-year plan for renewable energy distribution, the first-ever national basic plan devised for the energy source. Under the nationally determined contribution (NDC) target for 2035, Korea aims to generate 30 percent of power through renewable energy by 2035 and expand the installed capacity of renewable energy facilities to 100 GW by 2030. Last year, renewable energy accounted for 11.4 percent of the country's total energy generation. To this end, the government will work to establish at least 10 large-scale solar power complexes in the greater Seoul area, the central Chungcheong Province and the eastern Gangwon Province, to secure up to 12 GW of renewable energy generation capacity, according to the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment. The government will also install solar power facilities with a combined ge

May 19, 2026By Yonhap

Korea to build at least 10 solar power complexes for renewable energy expansion

Korea turns to eco-friendly pesticides to combat surge of lovebugs

Korean forest researchers are accelerating field trials of eco-friendly pesticides to combat a massive surge of Plecia longiforceps — commonly known as lovebugs — that has swarmed mountains and residential areas near the capital. The National Institute of Forest Science said Monday that it is conducting outdoor trials using three types of organic pest-control agents on Mount Baeknyeon in Seoul and Mount Gyeyang in neighboring Incheon. The move comes after the insects mass-reproduced in these areas, causing widespread discomfort for hikers and residents and emerging as a distinct local nuisance. The lovebugs, which are a species of march fly, earn their nickname from their behavior of flying in mating pairs. While harmless to humans and ecologically beneficial as decomposers, their sheer numbers in urban forests and apartment complexes have triggered public complaints. Looking for a sustainable solution, the institute's forest pest research division recently tested two entomopathogenic fungal agents and a plant-extract based pesticide in a lab setting. After the eco-friendly mixtures

May 19, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

Korea turns to eco-friendly pesticides to combat surge of lovebugs

As wild boars invade Seoul’s suburbs, city fights back with data, steel

For residents living on the scenic fringes of Korea’s capital, an evening stroll has increasingly come with an unwelcome hazard: encounters with aggressive, multi-hundred-pound wild boars charging down from the mountains. Now, municipal authorities are deploying a mix of heavy-duty infrastructure and predictive data to reclaim the streets. The Seoul Metropolitan Government, in partnership with the Korea National Park Service, announced Monday an aggressive expansion of its urban wildlife containment strategy. Officials will install an additional 3 kilometers of specialized exclusion fencing along residential boundaries in heavily impacted northern districts, including Seodaemun, Nowon and Eunpyeong. The new barriers will fortify an already sprawling defense network that includes 18.8 kilometers of steel fencing and 184 heavy-duty cage traps strategically hidden along the foothills of Bukhansan National Park. The offensive appears to be working. According to city data, the population density of boars around Mount Bukhan has dropped steadily over the last four years, falling from 2.1 bo

May 18, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

As wild boars invade Seoul’s suburbs, city fights back with data, steel

Mangroves discovered on Korean shores, signaling warming climate

On the windswept southern coast of Jeju Island, scientists have discovered a visitor that was never supposed to be there: a woody mangrove species previously unknown to the Korean Peninsula. The discovery of the plant, Myoporum bontioides (tentatively named the "beach paulownia"), was announced Tuesday by the Jeju World Heritage Office and Jeju National University. While the peninsula’s warming waters have long brought subtropical fish and seaweed to its shores, the arrival of a woody tree species marks a significant and visible escalation in the regional impact of climate change. Typically found in the sweltering coastal zones of Vietnam, Taiwan and southern Japan, the mangrove appears to have traveled north as a hitchhiker on ocean currents. Researchers estimate that the plants have been growing on Jeju for at least seven years, surviving long enough to reach maturity and flower. The appearance of mangroves in Korea is more than a botanical curiosity. It is a preview of a shifting ecosystem. These plants are the primary architects of "blue carbon" sinks, coastal ecosystems that can

May 12, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

Mangroves discovered on Korean shores, signaling warming climate

Lovebugs return to Korea earlier this year

Lovebugs — small, black-bodied flies named for the way mated pairs fly while attached to each other — are expected to swarm Korea slightly earlier than last year and for a shorter period due to higher temperatures, the state forest science institute said Monday. The Korea Forest Service said in a statement that the National Institute of Forest Science forecast the outbreak will begin on June 15, two days earlier than last year, and end on June 29, with activity peaking on June 24. Last year's major outbreak lasted from June 17 to July 4 — a longer window that suggests this year's swarms may be denser over a more concentrated period. “It is slightly earlier than last year and the reflection of higher spring temperatures recently,” the agency said in a statement. The insects are cold-blooded, meaning their growth rate varies depending on ambient temperatures. The agency added that the continued warm weather appears to have accelerated their development from larvae to pupae to adults, bringing forward the expected outbreak. The analysis is based on 439 records from the online plat

May 11, 2026By Park Ji-won

Environment & Animals