Hi, my name is Daniel and I am an ambassador representing South Korea. I'll be beginning my term by writing this article and I'm looking forward to more in the coming months.

First of all, South Korea is an industrial country that has a lot of factors that may build pollution. A major source of air pollution in South Korea are coal power plants. Greenpeace, an environmental group, stated in the International Business Times that PM-2.5 or particle-laden smog contributes to 50 to 70 percent of Korea?s air pollution. This organization explained how South Korea blames a lot of their air quality on China instead of focusing on trying to solve their sources of air pollution. Although this is true, 30 to 50 percent of South Korea?s air pollution do come from China. However, the Chinese are taking efforts to limit the growth of coal energy use by 2021, according to Greenpeace. On the other hand, South Korea plans to construct a dozen more coal factories by 2021. There needs to be more plans to use renewable energy instead of using harmful energy sources like coal power plants. South Korea should take initiative if they do really want to improve the air quality of their country.

There is a recent study published by Dr. Kim Do-gwan in the Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, stating that various types of air pollution affects suicide and depression. Dr. Kim and his colleagues recorded the changes of PM-10 week to week. The suicide rate would increase by 3.2 percent if the PM-10 increased by 37.82?/? in a week. The various types of air pollution would negatively affect the operation of neurotransmitters in the body?s nervous system. This recent study proves how much further harm air pollution can cause to our health. Therefore, we should undergo a positive altercation to decrease air pollution and the harm that it may cause to us. According to the New York Times, around 3.3 million people worldwide succumbs to air pollution. The number one factor contributing to the deaths in South Korea is due to agriculture. This is the case of many other countries such as Japan, Russia, the entirety of Europe, and a portion of the U.S. It is stated that ammonia from fertilizers and animal wastes are the causes of air pollution in these regions. We should look to substitute the sources that cause ammonia with other available options. For example, reducing the amount of animals produced and replacing them with other sources of food can decrease the amount of ammonia produced by animal wastes.

The recent Volkswagen scandal in South Korea proves once again the importance of doing what we can to protect the quality of our air. We are reminded that doing our part to curve if not stop the air pollution is not just a moral obligation now, but a legal one as well. The VW scandal spreads to Asia as Korea stated that it will test emissions on diesel version of VW?s Jetta, Golf, and Audi A3 sedan this month.