Laws and Regulations

National Laws and Regulation

Despite being a relatively small country in terms of landmass, Republic of Korea’s development experience illustrates the pollution problems many countries face. Korea’s successful rapid industrial and economic growth is considered one of the most remarkable capitalist development stories. In a matter of decades, Korea’s economy transformed from an impoverished agrarian economy to a modern industrial economy (Kim and Song, 2007). After the Korean War ended, Korea underwent rapid industrialization, exploiting natural resources and releasing enormous amounts of pollution into the air and waterways (Han, 2015).

Under Park Chung-Hee’s (1963-1979) authoritarian presidency, the economy was labor-intensive, relied on the heavy chemical industry, and was driven by export-led growth. The government and chaebol groups, Korean family-led business conglomerates, pushed for economic growth and ignored the impact that the rapid development had on the environment. Domestic environmental movements were suppressed, and environmental problems were not reported since the government tightly controlled the media. In the 1970s, environmental groups existed only for victim compensation, but they were local, disorganized, and ineffective (Moon and Lim, 2002).

The end of the Park regime opened Korean society, allowing civil movements to emerge with renewed strength (Kim and Song, 2007). In the 1980s, under President Chun Doo-Hwan’s regime, environmental groups and movements started to mobilize against pollution from industrial areas, the Environment Administration was created, and victims of environmental injustice were compensated and/or relocated (Ku, 1996). In 1987, during the transition to democracy from the Chun regime, the government’s control of information on environmental issues was loosened, environmental problems were more visible, government responsiveness to public concerns increased, and stakeholders were mobilized to address environmental issues (Moon and Lim, 2002). Following industrialization and increased observations of debris in coastal areas, the Korean government and its citizens became more attentive and pressured to address environmental issues, including marine debris (Sung et al., 2005). This broader mobilization prompted the first significant governmental response to coastal plastic pollution.

In the 1990s, responding to the enormous masses of trash found near the coast, Korea enacted trailblazing marine litter management strategies and technologies to address coastal litter. Most of the land-based marine debris originates from large cities like Incheon, Seoul, and Busan and flows out of the Han River, Keum River, Youngsang River, Seomjin River, the Nakdong River, among others, during the summer flooding season (Cho, 2005). Korea’s fishing and aquaculture industry was identified as the primary culprit of releasing large quantities of marine debris (i.e., derelict fishing gear) at sea as well as polluting coastal waters with Styrofoam buoys, nets, and nylon ropes (Kang et al., 2001; Cho, 2005; Jang et al., 2014). Government surveys demonstrated a loss of fishery productivity due to marine debris by 10-20 percent and 20-30 percent loss in aquaculture productivity (Cho, 2005).

Korea’s investment in managing marine debris continued into the 21st century. In a 2008 Korean national survey, Styrofoam buoys accounted for more than 10% of marine debris collected from beaches. Participant workshops with fishers, governmental organizations, and NGOs identified a “lack of understanding on the negative impacts of Styrofoam marine debris” and economic and social incentives as one of the causes that lead to the intentional discard of buoys by fishers (Lee et al., 2015).

In 2012, land-based litter accounted for approximately 36% of the total marine debris at sea and coastal areas, where ocean-based industries, explicitly fishing and aquaculture, accounted for most of the marine debris at sea and in coastal waters (Jang et al., 2014; Russi, 2016). In 2018, 176,000-tons of marine debris were generated by the Korean peninsula; 67% of the debris was land-based, and 33% was sea-based, whereas less than 10% of the total is foreign-based (Cho, 2018). Most of the land-based debris originated from natural disasters (i.e., construction and wood debris), while sea-based debris was derelict fishing gear.

In 2010, over 64% of the Korean population lived in coastal and riverine areas (Jung et al., 2010). As a response to increasing coastal populations and concerns of marine debris outflows, the central government has implemented nationwide coastal cleanups, stricter regulations on waste management, and marine waste buyback programs (Jung et al., 2010; NOWPAP CEARAC, 2013; Hong et al., 2013).  The growing concern about plastic pollution has pressured the Korean government to implement more aggressive policies to regulate the release of microplastics into Korean waters. According to a Korean national survey conducted by Greenpeace in 2016, most Korean participants displayed concern about microplastic pollution and specified that the national government should implement microplastic policies. Furthermore, in a survey of the Seoul metropolitan area, most participants expressed concern about the impacts of microplastics and were willing to pay to remove them along with aggressive government policies (Choi and Lee, 2018).

The 2007 Marine Environment Management Act

• The regulation aimed to preserve and manage the marine environment by preventing, collecting, and reducing marine litter (MOF, n.d.). In Article 2.4, “waste” is defined as a ‘substance which is useless in such form when discharged into the sea and which adversely affects or is likely to affect the marine environment’. The definition of ‘litter’ is critical in creating a comprehensive plan.

• Article 24.1 legally requires the Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries (MOF) to draft and establish a National Plan for Marine Litter Management every five years. The MOF and Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation enforce the plan and participate in the monitoring of marine litter. The Korean Coast Guard and Ministry of Environment are included but not required to participate in the drafting of the plans.

• Article 24.1 was deleted on December 3rd, 2019, and reassigned to the 2020 Management Act of Marine Litter and Contaminated Marine Sediment Act

• This regulation, however, failed to clearly define plastic waste and microplastics. It also did not promote inter-ministerial coordination and collaboration and did not include the total amount of marine litter.

The 2020 Marine Garbage and Contaminated Marine Sediment Act

• The passage of the Marine Garbage and Contaminated Marine Sediment Act, hereafter, the Marine Litter Management Act (MLM Act), addresses the limitations of the 2007 Marine Environment Management Act and enforces strict measures to prevent the flow of land-based litter into the ocean, and demands experts to clearly define microplastics and plastic waste. Furthermore, it places more pressure on the prevention and reduction meanwhile promoting regulatory interventions such as the ‘polluter pays’ principle. The MLM Act also created the National Marine Litter Management Committee, which consists of relevant agencies and organizations that must coordinate marine litter management. The act establishes a legal basis for inter-ministerial coordination as well as prevention and reduction of marine litter.