Essay about South Korea
South Korea is best known for their green hilly mountains, the vast countryside, and even the beautiful cherry trees that grow all over the place but there is a lot more to South Korea that meets the eye.
South Korea is located 35.9078° N, 127.7669° E on the globe, it is part of Asia. Some of the characteristics of the land of South Korea is they have mountains running along the eastern coastline that goes to North Korea, these mountains are called the T’aebaek Mountains. They also have the Sobaek Mountains which is in the center of the country. There is a famous river called the Han river which played a big part in South Korea’s history. The Han river was used as a trade route to China. South Korea’s climate is hot and humid in the summers, and dry and cold in the winters. The rainfall for the mainland of the country is 35-60 inches annually and for the island of Cheju (Jeju) is 60-70 inches annually. Cheju Island is a volcanic Island that is right underneath South Korea close to Japan. South Korea and Japan live across the Japan Sea from each other. But sharing the same sea causes issues on either side.
Right now in South Korea they are protesting Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant because they want to dump their nuclear waste into the water. According to Al Jazeera News “South Korean President Moon Jae-in has ordered officials to explore petitioning an international court”, even the president wants to try to petition Japan out of dumping nuclear waste into the water. Japan said they are going to release more than 1 million tons of cantainmented water into the sea. “South Korea protested strongly against the decision, summoning Koichi Aiboshi, Tokyo’s ambassador in Seoul, and convening an intra-agency emergency meeting to craft its response.” (Chan Lee, 1). South Korea is protesting very hard to not have Japan dump the water because they are sharing the same water across the sea.
A chain of protest against Japan's nuclear water dump happened on April 14th by politicians, fisherman, environmental activists and even local officials joined in the protest. They protested in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, port city of Busan, and Cheju Island. One of the ways people protested in front of the Japanese embassy was when a group of South Korean University students decided to shave their heads right on the sidewalk. Several anti-nuclear and environmental groups sent a petition signed by more than 64,000 people to the Japanese embassy.
If Japan decides to go through with dumping the nuclear waste into the sea it can do a lot of damage not just for South Korea but other countries neighboring the sea. It could potentially ruin the ecosystem by these regions. Especially South Korea because it can have an effect on the city of Busan which is a big fishing town. With dumpin the nuclear waste it can ruin the fish in the water and make it so people can't catch or sell fish. Busan has the biggest and the most famous fish market in the world (Jagalchi Market). If the 1 million tons of muscular waste ends up getting dumped into the sea it will cause tons of business to suffer, just one is the Jagalchi Market. Tons of vendors sell fish there lots of people won't be able to fish anymore and it will ruin what South Korea built in Busan.
South Korea is a big tourist attraction not just with one of the biggest fish markets in the world but its scenery and culture strike an attraction to most people. With the problems this region is facing now it could be devastating for its economy. South Korea doesn't want to damage its reputation by the hands of Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant. It would not only harm South Korea but it would also harm Russia, China, and even Japan itself. Hopefully realizing what they are doing can cause a lot of damage.
