Camping vans on beach This photo, provided by a reader, shows the auto camping ground on Mongsanpo Beach in the western county of Taean filled with camping vans on Oct. 9, 2021, the first day of a three-day prolonged weekend that lasts until Oct. 11. (Yonhap)
Drone promoting social distancing A drone flies above a beach in Gangneung, 237 kilometers east of Seoul, on July 5, 2020, while holding a sign that promotes the social-distancing campaign to fight the new coronavirus pandemic. (Yonhap)
A beach on the eastern port of Sokcho is empty on Aug. 13, 2017, as swimming is banned following reports of rip currents for two straight days. (Yonhap)
This article focuses on the trash left on Korean beaches, but the litter problem isn’t just isolated to beaches. This same problem is also occurring in Korea’s mountains where picnickers leave others to clean up their messes as well:
Street cleaners sort trash at Haeundae Beach in Busan, July 29. / Yonhap
From beer cans to water bottles, leftover chicken, watermelon rinds and dirty clothes, major beaches across the nation are suffering from summer vacationers leaving tons of trash mounting daily.
Local governments have stepped up efforts to clean the mess, putting in more manpower and expanding cleaning hours, but had little to no success.
At Millak Waterside Park in Busan, collected trashes during weekdays an average of 2.5 tons of trash is collected each day, according to local officials. This doubles on weekends.
It takes four hours for 10 city street cleaners and volunteers to sort through and properly recycle the trash.
“I’m OK with people enjoying their vacation by eating and drinking near the beach,” said a city street cleaner. “What I don’t understand is why they disappear without cleaning up their mess.” [Korea Times]
