Hi! My name is David, and I am an ambassador currently living in Seoul, South Korea. South Korea, being one of the most industrialized countries in the world, naturally emisses a lot of harmful greenhouse gases that pollute the air and harm the environment. In South Korea, 709.14 million metric tons of carbon dioxide was released in 2017; statistics also reveal that an average South Korean contributed to around 13.5 tons of greenhouse gas every year (1). However, living in Seoul, I have been able to observe many efforts made by companies and the government in order to induce “eco-friendly mobility.” In this report, I am going to be highlighting some of these things I have noticed in the past few years.

One of South Korea’s efforts to induce eco-friendly mobility that I have often used myself is Seoul’s bike sharing system, Seoul Bike (or Ddareungi in Korean). The bike sharing system was first installed in 2015, and the number of stations gradually increased all throughout Seoul (2). To use this system, all you had to do was download the official app, create an account, and scan the QR code on the bicycle you wished to ride. Before the time you have paid for was up, all you had to do was return the bicycle to any one of the 150+ stations in Seoul (2). The fact that renting a bicycle was extremely affordable (₩1000 or $0.90 per hour) induced many citizens all throughout the city to often substitute their method of transportation that may have potentially contributed to the annual greenhouse gas emissions to a method of transportation that was friendly to the environment. 

Similarly, South Korea also has electric scooters that are available for rent. Unlike Seoul Bike, these scooters are manufactured and distributed by individual companies such as Lime, Beam, or Xing Xing. Just like Seoul Bike, all you have to do is download the corresponding app for the scooter. Compared to bicycles, electric scooters are much faster and can be more convenient as you do not need to return the scooter to its stations. Bicycles also require some physical activity, which may be unwanted when all you need is transportation and not unnecessary exercise. However, scooters are much more dangerous because of their high speed. Scooters are also unavailable to people without a driver’s license, which drastically narrows the number of citizens who are legally able to ride. Lastly, renting electric scooters is much more costly than renting from Seoul Bike. 

After looking at the pros and cons for Seoul Bike and electric scooters, it is clear that both methods of mobility may be more suited for certain situations. Seoul having both of these options of mobility is therefore extremely helpful, and allows more people to decrease their use of transportation that induce environmental harm such as driving a car powered by gasoline. Even though Seoul Bike and electric scooters both have their pros and cons, they are both amazing options of eco-friendly mobility in South Korea.

Sources:

1: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1019810/south-korea-annual-greenhouse-gas-emissions-volume/#:~:text=In%202017%2C%20the%20total%20volume,of%20greenhouse%20gas%20per%20year.

2:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ddareungi