Diverse events are held commemorating the 15^th Environment Day

Participated by 22,000 including the Prime Minister Un-chan Chung, the Minister of Environment Maanee Lee, leaders of environmental groups and citizens, the ceremony for the 15^th Environment Day was held at SUDOKWON Landfill Site Management Corporation in Incheon on June 4.

On the occasion of the third year after President Lee’s proclamation of Green Growth (Aug. 15, 2008) and the 30^th year after the launch of MOE, the theme of the ceremony is “Green Growth! Green Powerhouse! Larger Korea! (Unofficial translation)”

In 1972, the United Nations General Assembly designated June 5^th as World Environment Day to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment and Korea has held an official ceremony for Environment Day since 1996.

At the commemorative address, Prime Minister Chung said green growth is not only a goal but also a means of combining economy and environment and Korea is at the center of moving toward green growth.

At the ceremony, civil organizations, companies, the mass media, and public institutions which have significantly contributed to environmental conservation were rewarded from the government.

In addition, a groundbreaking ceremony for ‘Sudokwon Environmental Energy Town’ was held. ‘Sudokwon’ in Korean means ‘the Seoul National Capital Area’ and the construction of the town aims at producing new and renewable energy using wastes and unused lands. Until 2017, about 1,500billion won will be invested to build the town on the site of 4,600,000 m² within Sudokwon landfill site. Composed of four theme towns – waste to resources, forces of nature, bio, and environment·culture – the town is expected to produce energy, sufficient for 890,000 households to use.

Ambassadors from 20 nations including Indonesia and Singapore were invited to the ceremony and separate program of inspecting National Institute of Biological Resources to know about Korea’s accomplishment regarding green growth and promote international exchange in environmental industry.

Besides the ceremony, various and interesting environmental events such as wild flower festival, cultural performance on biodiversity, and kids painting competition were held.

Performance

Kids watching wild plants exhibition

Oilseed rape field