"Environmental racism is the new Jim Crow."

Environmental justice issues usually come accordingly with racial division due to the general income gap between races. In the US, the white population is estimated to have a much higher income median than African American homes. This gap has, over time, created a division in location of residence between racial groups, worsening environmental justice issues. The rich, white population live in the urban areas with green space such as parks whereas the relatively poor population of color reside in areas with direct sources of pollution such as factories, lead paint, and lead water pipes. Though environmental justice means much more than environmental racism, due to the strong influence ethnicity has on our society, environmental racism is a hot potato in many multiracial countries. Then how about South Korea, a single race nation?

Things work differently for South Korea. There is almost no racial division between citizens so if you are imaging environmental racism in Korea as something as dramatic as that of the US you are way too far ahead. In Korea, however, racism and feeling of separation towards the ethnic minorities such as foreign workers are the main driving forces for environmental justice. In 2015, the overall population of foreigners was calculated to be 3.4% but is expected to be higher due to illegal immigrants. Many female foreigners marry men in rural areas and most of the foreign workers take jobs that Korean citizens avoid also called as 3D jobs –Dirty, Dangerous, Demeaning.

People nowadays comment that environmental justice is the new civil rights movement. But unlike the amount of attention this issue deserves, many Koreans are too negligent on these issues chiefly because they don?t regard it as ?their? issue; it is none of their business, they think, because less than 5% of the whole population suffers from it. Legislations are also not far-reaching due to the fact that the people who suffer from this injustice are foreigners and not Korean citizens.

But is this really an issue outside the scope of our attention? Do they deserve our severe ignorance? If it is harmony that the Korean government and Korean citizens want for foreigners coming into the country, it shouldn?t be indirect racism that greets them but rather proper facilities and systems that can protect them as long as they are regarded as a part of our society.