South Korea - The Korea Times

PM defends decision to lower emissions reduction target for industry

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo presides over a coordination meeting with related ministers to discuss key state affairs at the government complex in Seoul on March 23. YonhapPrime Minister Han Duck-soo has defended the government's decision to revise down the greenhouse gas reduction target for the industrial sector, saying that the adjustment is not insufficient. "I don't think that it is insufficient," Han replied when asked about views that the revised target for industry falls short of international standards. Under the adjusted target by sectors, the industrial sector will be required to cut its emissions by 11.4 percent from the 2018 levels by 2030, compared with the previous reduction target of 14.5 percent. The renewable energy sector will fill the gap, allowing the government to maintain the overall target to reduce total emissions by 40 percent by 2030 compared with 2018 levels.Han vowed to achieve the 2030 target of reducing emissions, although it would be difficult. "It's a tough goal, but since we made a promise internationally, the key is to keep it," Han told reporters on

Mar 23, 2023

PM defends decision to lower emissions reduction target for industry

Korea decides to lower emission reduction target for industrial sector

This image shows the automobile emissions. GettyimagesbankKorea decided to lower the greenhouse gas reduction target for the industrial sector, while maintaining the overall target to reduce total emissions by 40 percent by 2030 compared with 2018 levels, a presidential commission said Tuesday.Under the adjusted target by sectors, the industrial sector will be required to cut its emissions by 11.4 percent from the 2018 levels by 2030, compared with the previous reduction target of 14.5 percent, the Presidential Commission on Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth said in a statement. The commission cited difficulties in supply of raw materials and technology prospects as a reason for the adjustment. "The target is eased in consideration of domestic conditions such as supply and demand of raw materials and technology prospects," the commission said. In contrast, the target to reduce emissions in the renewable energy sector will be raised to 45.9 percent from the 2018 levels by 2030, compared with the previous target of 44.4 percent, it said. To meet the total target by 2030, the governmen

Mar 21, 2023

Korea decides to lower emission reduction target for industrial sector

World on 'thin ice' as UN climate report gives stark warning

Birds Korea Scaly-sided merganser, shy endangered bird of Korea's rivers

A pair of scaly-sided mergansers, female on the left and male on the right, show off the unique pattern on their flanks that gives this species their name.  Courtesy of Birds KoreaBy Dr. Nial MooresSitting low in the water, close to the river bank, a scaly-sided merganser rests, half-hidden by the shade of an overhanging tree and by a line of jagged black rocks. Waking, the bird moves away from us quietly, and is soon joined by another and then another. Seen well, the details of each of these birds is exquisite: jagged crests, bright fire-red bills and flanks with black and white fish scales that mirror perfectly the ripples and reflections on the water.The scaly-sided merganser is a species that comes to Korea from the wildest river forests of East Asia, from summers in remote mountain valleys shared with the Siberian tiger. They are shy, doing all they can to keep their distance from that most fearful of predators: people. Researchers from Birds Korea Yeoncheon search for scaly-sided mergansers along the Namhan River in Yeoju, Feb. 15, 2022.  Courtesy of Birds KoreaThey n

Mar 14, 2023

[Birds Korea] Scaly-sided merganser, shy endangered bird of Korea's rivers

Youths, lawyers urge constitutional court to tackle carbon neutrality faster

Yoon Hyun-jeong from Youth 4 Climate Action speaks during the press conference, Monday, at Attic 99 in Jongno District, Seoul. Courtesy of Climate Media HubThree years into legal dispute, Youth 4 Climate Action recaps story so far By Ko Dong-hwanThree years after filing a complaint suit at the country's Constitutional Court against the Korean central government for their “inadequate” climate policies, Youth 4 Climate Action and their lawyers once again got together, Monday, to mark the ongoing initiative and recap key events.Three youth activists from the group and as many lawyers representing them held a press conference in central Seoul, in which they stated that the government and the National Assembly haven't changed in how they are dealing with the climate crisis, which is an urgent matter.“Their (the government) unchanging claim has been that they recognize the problem but solving it is unrealistic,” the group said. “For those who don't share the value of time, the past three years may have meant nothing. But for us, that period meant hope and the

Mar 13, 2023By Ko Dong-hwan

Youths, lawyers urge constitutional court to tackle carbon neutrality faster

Yoon orders all-out efforts to swiftly put out wildfire in Hapcheon

A large wildfire that broke out in Hapcheon County, South Gyeongsang Province, has prompted the evacuation of some 210 people, Wednesday. YonhapPresident Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday instructed relevant authorities to make all-out efforts to swiftly put out a large wildfire in a southeastern county.The instruction came after the fire prompted the evacuation of about 210 people in Hapcheon County, South Gyeongsang Province, 354 kilometers southeast of Seoul.Yoon ordered relevant authorities to "make every effort to mobilize all available resources to swiftly extinguish the fire," according to presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon.The blaze started on a hill in Hapcheon at around 2 p.m. Wednesday, local officials said.About 550 firefighters and 33 helicopters were mobilized to put out the fire, they said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths. (Yonhap)

Mar 8, 2023

Yoon orders all-out efforts to swiftly put out wildfire in Hapcheon

Jeju's 2nd airport project still faces opposition

Rep. Sim Sang-jeung of Justice Party speaks during a rally hosted by a civic group in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, June 16, 2021, against the central government's plan to introduce a second airport on Jeju Island. The placard below Rep. Sim reads “Cancel the plan for a new airport on Jeju!!” Korea Times fileWith environment ministry's approval, local division intensifiesBy Ko Dong-hwanDespite the environment ministry's conditional approval of a plan to build a second airport on Jeju Island, the already long-delayed project still seems to have a long way to go before construction begins due to unceasing protests from those accusing the ministry of giving up on its primary role of preserving the country's natural environment. Ever since the plan was first proposed in 1990, opening another international airport for the global tourism hotspot has been a hot-button issue.One of the conditions set by the ministry is that local residents' complaints and requests should be taken fully into account in planning the project. Other conditions included resolving the issues

Mar 7, 2023By Ko Dong-hwan

Jeju's 2nd airport project still faces opposition

Single-use toiletries ban poses challenge for hotels

gettyimagesbankBy Ko Dong-hwanThe nation will introduce new environmental regulations that will put a stop to single-use items in large-size hotels and other commercial lodgings to reduce waste. But the plan is already facing a backlash as the convenience of such items is one of the reasons people use such facilities, especially those providing luxury brand sample products.The National Assembly passed a revision bill for the Resource Recycling Act so as to ban the provision of single-use products at hotels with 50 or more rooms on Monday. Previously the law was applied to restaurants and large-size supermarkets.The revised rule is expected to be put into effect within two years.Under the new regulation, hotels with 50 or more rooms can no longer provide single-use toiletries such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo and body cleanser. To some customers, the items have been one of the key factors in deciding which hotel to stay at, because some hotels provided products of high-end brands, attracting lodgers interested in using or taking them home.A new environmental regulation will fo

Mar 1, 2023By Ko Dong-hwan

Single-use toiletries ban poses challenge for hotels

Japan slammed for loosening test standards on Fukushima radioactive water

Tokyo Electric Power Company shows a bottle of radioactive water from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan which has been filtered by ALPS, Feb. 18. The filtering measure is, however, drawing criticism from experts in different countries as its radioactivity-cleansing feature has not been fully verified. YonhapSeoul urged to respond firmly to Tokyo's move By Ko Dong-hwanKorean environmental activists condemned Thursday, the Japanese government's latest move to discard radioactive water from their own soil which is now stored at the tsunami-hit nuclear power plant in Fukushima. Filtered and planned for discharge into the Pacific Ocean this year, the water, according to the Japanese government, has been tested for concentration levels of radioactive nuclides that would pollute the maritime environment. What concerns the activists is that the Japanese government recently reduced the list of radioactive nuclides to measure and verify their safety levels from 64 to 30. The list has been shortened to more than half because the Japanese government believes some radioactive nuclide

Feb 23, 2023By Ko Dong-hwan

Japan slammed for loosening test standards on Fukushima radioactive water

Environment ministry dismisses climate change denialists

Vice Environment Minister Yoo Je-chul, second from left, speaks during a press conference for foreign correspondents in Korea at Press Center in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Ministry of EnvironmentVice minister points out measured facts that verify climate changeBy Ko Dong-hwanThe vice environment minister, Wednesday, dismissed arguments by climate change denialists, saying various “measured facts” prove that the crisis is real and happening right now. Yoo Je-chul admitted he was aware of people around the world who refuse to accept that rising ocean temperatures and more frequent extreme natural disasters represent a climate crisis.“Certainly I have heard that argument, and so I heard as well that there is a prominent Korean scholar who also supports that argument,” Yoo said during a press conference with foreign correspondents in Korea. Yoo disagreed with the denialists, referring to a list of data recorded over the past centuries. “Before 1850 when the first Industrial Revolution ended and the second one began, the concentration level of carbon dioxi

Feb 22, 2023By Ko Dong-hwan

Environment ministry dismisses climate change denialists

Korea protests Japan's annual event on Dokdo attended by high-level official

A file photo of Dokdo in the East Sea / NewsisKorea lodged a strong protest Wednesday against Japan for its dispatch of a high-ranking government official to an annual event highlighting Tokyo's claim to Dokdo in the East Sea.Seo Min-jung, director general for Asia Pacific affairs at Seoul's foreign ministry, called in Naoki Kumagai, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy, to deliver the message.Hideyuki Nakano, a parliamentary vice minister of Japan's Cabinet office, attended the ceremony hosted by the Japanese prefecture of Shimane to lay claim to the rocky outcroppings effectively controlled by Korea.In a separate statement, Seo's ministry made clear that Dokdo is "historically, geographically and under international law" that of Korean territory and called for Japan to halt making "unreasonable claims." (Yonhap)

Feb 22, 2023

Environment & Animals