Nakpyeongthe Environmental Problems And Movements In South Korea

Gwanju Human Rights Folk School 2004

The Environmental Problems and Movements in South Korea Presented by Nakpyeong, Chairperson of the Executive Committee (Gwanju Federation of Environmental Movements)

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Introduction

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2004 was awarded to Ms. Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmental movement activist. This was an exceptional case, as the Nobel Peace Prize has normally been awarded to those who have stood out in the fields of movements for the promotion of human rights and democracy or for the eradication of war and other conflicts. Ms. Maathai’s winning of the prize can be interpreted as a message that environmental issues are now recognized as being as important as other issues, such as human rights and democracy, and they are now problems that need to be solved for the peace and welfare of the whole world. Are environmental problems truly being solved? Despite the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, in 1972, and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development in 1992, the environmental crisis of the world still continues. As the climate changes, global warming continues to proceed and the glaciers on the polar areas continue to melt; the rain forests, or the so-called “lungs of the earth,” are decreasing; the diversity of animal species is also diminishing. Freshwater sources are severely contaminated and many people around the world suffer from water shortages, while at the same time the amount of toxic waste is increasing. The developed countries, in particular, are abusing natural resources and energy through their socio-economic system of mass production and conspicuous consumption. The development policies of the 20th century are, in fact, still in operation.

South Korea has some of the worst environmental and ecological conditions in the world. Since the early 1960s the country has focused on policies for industrialization, urbanization, rapid growth, and exports, and has achieved a remarkable economic growth. Behind the scenes of this rapid economic growth, however, the destruction of the environment and damage to the ecology of the country has also proceeded at a rapid rate. Korea has experienced an unprecedented rapid 1

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development and growth which was accompanied by an equally rapid environmental destruction. Even with the appearance of the Roh Muhyeon Administration, the old paradigm of growth and development still prevails. The Roh Administration supports economic growth as one of the most important elements for national competitiveness in this time of globalization and neo-liberalism (new freedom). Environmental movement organizations in Korea have carried out an active struggle against the Roh Administration’s development-oriented economic policies that do not show any concern for the environment. Korean environmental organizations define the current situation as an “environmental emergency” and are uniting in their efforts to change the Roh Administration’s policies. It is not yet quite clear how the government will respond to the recent activities and demands of these environmental organizations. The history of the environmental movement in Korea is not long. It can be said to have started in the late 1980s and major environmental organizations, formed spontaneously in the early 1990s, are still in operation. Before the 1990s, the Korean society concentrated all its efforts to change the authoritative military dictatorships and establish democracy. Finally, social movements throughout the 1990s came to fruition in realizing democracy in South Korea. The environmental movement in Korea started to take root slowly in this social context.

2. The Environmental Problems in South Korea South Korea is a country of 100.00㎢, 65% of which consists of mountains. It has a population of 47 million, four distinct seasons, and rainfall of 1400~1500mm per year. The country has the world’s fourth highest density of population. Owing to high manpower and consistent economic development, the country has become the eleventh largest economic power with a GNP of more than US$10,000 per person. The imports and exports of South Korea have increased considerably: the country imports the fifth largest amount of petroleum in the world; its car manufacturing industry and pelagic fishery also rank the fifth in the world. South Korea ranks the seventh in the world in terms of the number of nuclear plants, having 20 of them. As a result of this industrialization, more than 85% of the population in South Korea is living in cities. In the early 1960s, the country was a poor, agriculture-oriented country, with a GNP of 2

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US$ 200 per person. The amount of exports was less than 100 million US dollars. There were only about 30,000 automobiles in the country, and around 85% of the population was living in farming and fishing communities. It has, however, achieved an economic growth at the rate of 5% per year, and has transformed itself into an urbanized industrial country. Due to this economic growth, the country was able to overcome poverty and is now enjoying a certain wealth and convenience. Housing is provided to more than 90% of the urban households and more than 13 million cars are on the roads (1 car per 3.6 persons). Korean companies have advanced into more than 170 countries across the world, and the number of South Koreans who travel abroad has also consistently increased. In order to understand the environmental problems in Korea, one should first understand the economic growth and the development policies of the country. In the past, the growth-oriented policies of the country were not concerned with the importance of the environment or the ecology. Their only interest was growth and development. The dictatorships, which ruled the country for 30 years after the 1960s, truly suited their nickname, ‘development dictatorship.’ Those dictatorial authorities took any questions about the environment as challenges to their system and suppressed them. The governmental policies, which could not last long, made indiscreet developments prevalent. Without thinking, the general public followed these governmental policies as development offered them chances of employment and were thus a way to escape their poverty. As a result of these development-oriented policies, the following environmental and ecological problems have arisen in South Korea: First, the injudicious land development was carried out consistently through projects to build cities, industrial parks, resorts with golf links, various roads and harbors. This abusive development and further exploitation of the land has resulted in fundamental transformations in the ecological environment of the country. A considerable portion of the land was exploited to meet the goals of development and growth, and, consequently, the ecosystems of the forests and the foreshores have suffered major damage.

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Second, mass production and mass consumption have become a part of daily life in South Korea. The development and growth-oriented policies changed the South Korean production-consumption structure in one stroke. In other words, the successful economic growth was made possible at the cost of different natural resources, water resources and energy resources. For instance, in the case of petroleum, South Korea is the fifth largest importing country in the world, and comes in as ninth in terms of the total emission of greenhouse gases. In the case of wood, South Korea is the second largest importing country in the world, following Japan. This process of mass production and mass consumption has brought about diverse and complex ecological and environmental problems. Third, due to the consistent urbanization and industrialization, every city has certain problems of environmental pollution. The overgrowth of the country’s capital area has become a serious problem that now confronts South Korea. South Korea might well be the only country in the world where approximately 47% of the entire population is concentrated in the capital area, as well as all the structures and functions of the political, economic, social, cultural, and educational fields. It follows that all the cities in the capital area are suffering from traffic-related pollutions such as air pollution, the lack of green spaces, the difficulties of securing safe drinking water and an overburdened hygienic refuse disposal system. The industrial parks in South Korea are also confronted with serious problems of air pollution, toxic wastewater and other toxic waste matters. Fourth, although it is one of the biggest energy-consuming countries in the world, South Korea has not put enough effort into preventing climate change. Korea emits the ninth largest amount of greenhouse gases in the world and this overconsumption of fossil energy means an extreme and dense emission of air pollutants such as greenhouse gases. Despite these figures, the country does not seem to pay enough attention to considering any viable alternatives. Finally, South Korea has 20 nuclear plants and is the second country in Asia to put into practice an electric energy policy concentrated on nuclear energy. These nuclear plants have been producing a huge amount of radioactive waste, even though the country has yet to secure a permanent disposal site. Despite this, the South Korean government is building even more nuclear plants. The nuclear energy issue, especially concerning the problems of radioactive waste disposal sites, has been one of the biggest 4

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environmental issues in South Korea for the last 20 years. Having been exposed to large-scale environmental pollution caused by abusive land development, as well as to a mass production and mass consumption structure, and to rapid urbanization and industrialization, the people of South Korea are now increasingly demanding safe drinking water, pollution-free food, and clean air in order to have healthy lives. The South Korea government, however, has stated its determination to revive the South Korean economy and is enforcing large-scaled development projects such as the following: the Saemangeum reclamation project, which destroys the foreshore mudfield; the construction of radioactive waste disposal sites which are combined with further construction of nuclear plants; the construction of roads which destroys the forest ecosystem; and the construction of large-scale dams to secure more water for private and industrial consumption. The government also plans to accelerate the development of the Capital area, the construction of hundreds of new golf links which will damage the forest ecosystem, and the construction of dozens of tourist and resort towns. Both the central government and the local self-governing bodies have special sectors concerning environmental problems and allocate them a considerable portion of their budget. The government seems to emphasize with a certain harmony among its citizens and a safe environment, as well as development, and says that it will carry out policies for ‘sustainable development’ as adopted at the UN conference; its actual policies, however, still focus on economic growth and development. The South Korean government is carrying out a so-called “end of pipe” administration, i.e., the ex post facto measures, instead of planning preventive measures in advance. The environmental policies of the government cannot control huge development projects. It is, thus, very likely that the environmental problems that our generation is experiencing now will continue in the future as these development-oriented policies will have grave consequences for the environment and the ecosystem. For all these above reasons, South Korean environmental organizations feel compelled to carry out this struggle for a better environment.

3. The South Korean Environment Movement Against the Development 5

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Dictatorship Since last November, the environmental organizations in South Korea have been carrying out their struggle against the development-oriented policies of the government through certain extreme measures such as a sit-down strike in the middle of the streets of Seoul and a hunger strike. Major environmental organizations, both from the Capital area and the local areas, are putting forth a collective effort to achieve their goals. The major demand of the environmental movement organizations is the withdrawal of the large-scale development plans that will certainly destroy the environment. They claim that the government should stop the above-mentioned projects: the Saemangeum reclamation project, an energy policy that is dependent on nuclear energy, the construction of roads, golf links, and leisure towns that will further degrade the environmental. The environmental movement organizations are demanding that the government reinforce regulations and restrictions to preserve the environment, and abandon their development-oriented policies. The history of the environment movement in South Korea is not a long one. It was only in the early 1960s that the country started its full-out development and the environment movement came to the front only in the late 1980s. During the military dictatorships the authoritative system did not allow any questioning, let alone opposition to the government’s policies for economic growth and development. With its massive power behind it, the dictatorship pushed forward its development policy. This was the so-called “development dictatorship”—a one-directional development, development propelled through power and authority. The major task of the Korean society at the time was to expel the dictatorial authority and realize democracy in the country. Environmental issues could not attract enough attention as major social issues. The environmental organizations started to form themselves only when the political society became democratized in the late 1980s. The general public also started to claim environmental rights as part of their basic rights. This was because they were faced with severe environmental problems such as when, before and after 1990, several cases of large-scaled water contamination were reported one by one. The mass media headlined the cases and drew the general public’s attention to the environmental problems. 6

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By the time of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development in 1992, environmental issues had drawn much attention from the international community. Korea was not unaware of these issues and its nongovernmental organizations sought international solidarity to deal with environmental problems at the global level. With the vision of the “Environmentally Sound and Sustainable Development,” which was agreed upon at the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development Conference, the organizations started to put on the brakes on the government’s development-oriented policies. At the moment, more than 500 environmental organizations are at work in every corner of the country, forming a nationwide network. The organizations have expanded at a rapid rate since the early 1990s, when there were only mere dozens of these organizations. In the case of the organization that I belong to, it started with 1 central unit and 7 local units in the early 1990s, but now has 53 local units. Through this case can be observed a phase of the environmental movements in Korea. Each environmental movement organization has members and is run with the members’ financial support. They have been coping with diverse environmental and ecological problems, and different organizations have gotten together and carried out collective activities. The following are some of the major examples of the environment movements and campaigns in South Korea: First, the struggle against the construction of nuclear plants and radioactive waste disposal sites, i.e. the struggle against nuclear energy in general, can be mentioned here. Since the late 1980s, the environment movement organizations have been demanding that the government change its energy policy, one which is very dependent on nuclear power. They have also opposed the construction of radioactive waste disposal sites which are contingent upon the further construction of nuclear plants. In spite of this, including the first nuclear plant built in 1978, altogether 20 nuclear plants are in operation at the moment, producing a tremendous amount of nuclear waste every year. Because of the organizations’ struggle against the construction of radioactive waste disposal sites, the government has not been able to select a waste disposal site yet. The issue of nuclear plants and radioactive waste disposal sites is and will be one of the biggest environmental issues. Second, the save-the-energy campaign and the movement to introduce 7

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renewable energy have continued. South Korea is the 5th largest petroleum-importing country, and it emits the 9th largest amount of greenhouse gases in the world. Diverse actions have been taken to change this ‘environment-destructive energy policy’ into a ‘sustainable energy policy’. Movements to introduce renewable energy sources such as solar energy, wind power, use of the earth’s heat, and hydrogen energy have kept up pressure on the government. Faced with the crisis that fossil fuel energy will be exhausted at the end of the 21st century, the world needs to search for an alternative energy that can substitute for fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Third, there have been consistent efforts to protect and preserve the mud flats on the foreshore. The Saemangum preservation movement, carried out since the late 1990s, is a good example of the struggle against the one-sided development policy of the government. The western and southern coastlines of South Korea constitute one of the four major mud flats in the world. The mud flats, however, have been considerably reduced due to the reclamation projects of the government since the 1960s. Most of the reclaimed lands have been turned into farmlands, industrial lands, or cities. As the environmental and ecological values and importance of mud flats became recognized, the environment movement organizations in South Korea started to prevent any more reclamation. Mud flats are rarely found in the world and they provide us with habitats for a variety of bird and other animal species, provide various marine resources, and work as a purifying system for the ecological region. Fourth, the environmental organizations have also carried out campaigns against dam constructions and river-reviving campaigns. Due to different development projects such as building cities, constructing industrial parks and creating farmland, the amount of water being consumed has increased rapidly. To ensure the supply for daily water consumption, water for industrial use and water for agricultural purposes, the government has built dams along rivers. Consequently, the amount of wastewater has increased, and the construction of these dams resulted not only in water contamination but also in the destruction of the ecosystem of rivers. Indeed, several cases of contaminated tap water and polluted rivers have drawn much attention from the society. Recognizing the environmental crises caused by dam construction, the environment organizations have been organized campaigns against dam construction, and fought for the preservation of the ecosystem of rivers. Outside the above-mentioned movements and campaigns, the environment 8

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organizations have been coping with environmental problems through campaigns to reduce and recycle wastes, to encourage Green Consumption and Green Transport, and to build green cities or ecological polis. These organizations have been carrying out diverse publicity activities and educational programs. There have also been very active international solidarity activities in the field of the environmental movement.

4. For the ‘Sustainable’ Future The 21st century is said to be “The Century of Environment”. In this expression is implied that the 20th century was a century of environmental destruction, and that the 21st century should be a century to overcome this environmental destruction. It is also implied that we human beings will have a future only when we overcome the environmental crisis. Many environmentalists have been warning us that if the environmental destruction continues at the current rate the future of the world will be quite dark. This can be easily seen in the global warming phenomenon. If global warming continues, unusual changes in the climate will also continue and the damages from drought, flood, and typhoons will accelerate. The glaciers on the polar areas will melt, causing the sea level to rise alarmingly. This, in the end, will have a direct influence on worldwide agricultural activities. We need to overcome the environmental crisis. Then, how should we cope with it? This is a very difficult task. The UN is recommending that every country aim to build an environmentally sound and sustainable society, as the destructive development policies of the 20th century should not be continued. Nonetheless, most developed countries, including South Korea, are still carrying out ‘unsustainable’ development policies which give priority to the accumulation of national wealth. In the case of South Korea, the ‘unsustainable’ development policies can be observed in its land use, its energy policy, and its policy of economic growth. South Korea, in a word, will continue to sacrifice its environment and ecosystem for its economy. This will be the same for the countries of the Third World. The environment organizations, however, are making sure that they will continue to carry out their campaigns to overcome the environmental crisis and to build the ‘sustainable’ future. One of their major efforts is to continue the struggle against the 9

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South Korean government. The government’s ‘unsustainable’ development policy, if continued, will further the environmental destruction, and eventually put an end to life on earth. Environmental destruction is life destruction and it results in the deprivation of our basic rights. To secure safe and peaceful lives for our generation and the next generation, i.e. to secure ‘our sustainable future’, the environment movement needs to be carried on.

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