Though there are some environmental policies in Korea, a lot of climate organizations claim that we are way behind many other countries. Despite the fact that Korea is a first world country famous for great Samsung smartphones, we have a lot to catch up concerning the environment. In this article, I would like to talk about two policies that already exist but need improvement and three policies that I would like to establish for my nation.

To research about environmental laws that already exist, I search for ‘environmental laws in South Korea’ on Google and clicked on the information from Korea’s environmental government. This is what came on my screen;

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(photo = ‘screenshot of my computer screen’)

Korean environmental laws were much various and specific than I expected them to be so I was a little bit surprised to see this page. I didn’t know where to start; there were laws about nature preservation, air quality preservation, and more! I clicked on the link for the air quality preservation law. I could see that there were many efforts of the Korean government regarding our environment. They were trying many science experiments to lower down the fine dust concentration. They were trying to make artificial rain by releasing chemical components that can create water or rain when absorbed by clouds.

However, it was hard to say that they were doing everything they can to solve the main cause of the problems; limiting carbon emission or reducing the number of factories. This is the part that I would like to improve. The Korean government has strengthened and tightened the limitation of carbon emission and factories after the fine dust crisis that had swept through Korea. The truth behind this accomplishment is that it hasn’t changed a lot compared to the original law. It did make a slight change for some big companies, but there is a lot of criticism that claims that it isn’t enough.

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(photo = https://jurisedge.com/academy/2017/03/03/clat-llm-2017-environmental-law-new-add/)

Finally, I would like to introduce you the three policies that I would like to establish for my nation. First, limiting the number of nuclear factories. Scientists have found a new way to make energy; using the power of an atom. This certainly is efficient compared with fossil fuels and it is environmentally friendly. This is why nuclear is uprising to people as a new sustainable energy. I would definitely support this if this is safe. However, unlike some other first world countries that are already using nuclear as their energy source, Korea has a lot to go on in nuclear. The people are afraid of nuclear accidents and it creates nuclear waste that cannot be thrown away normally. Also, we haven’t developed stable policies concerning the nuclear power. Even though we are already using nuclear power as one of our energy sources, I am still worried about its dark side. This is why I think we should find a different energy source that is both safe and effective.

Second, use the internet when delivering messages to parents instead of paper. In most schools, they print handouts to students that include information about school’s new policies and stuff that they want parents to know. However, most of those handouts end up in either three places; in the student’s bag where it rots until the end of the year, in the student’s desk drawer where it would be cramped and be found a year later, or in a trash bin. Everyone can clearly see that it is just a waste of paper, but still schools hand them out anyway every day. This is why I think we can use reusable paper or create a school website. Some people may feel uneasy about using paper that has already been used but this small change can make a big outcome when it comes to hundreds of them compared to hundreds of newly made paper.

Lastly, using solar panels for electrical sources in schools. The times when the students are at school are usually during daytime and you don’t need to be there at night if you are not in high schools. This is why I think we can use solar panels instead of fossil fuels for electricity. Solar panels are not so popular as source of energy because you can only use them when the sun is up. The only time we need to use the solar panels is when the sun is up or during the day. If we can use solar panels, why not use them?

A lot of people conflict between development and preservation. A lot of people try to find ways that enables the both of them to go together. We need more help. We may say “we will preserve the nature later” but later there may not be nature to preserve. If preservation is something that we could wait, why not the development? We have been developing for centuries. Wouldn’t now be the preservation’s turn to make a huge step forward in our life?