Ministry of Environment (Minister Han Jeoung Ae) will hold a ceremony to celebrate the 2021 "World Water Day" at BEXCO in Busan at 2 PM on 22 March 2021. 

The United Nations designated the 22nd day of March as "World Water Day" in 1992 in order to raise awareness of water as it became polluted and scarce globally due to a growing population and industrialization. 

In Korea, the "World Water Day" ceremony has been held at the government level with a view to reminding its meaning and joining forces with the world since 1995. 

This year the UN selected "Valuing water" as the theme for the 29th year of "World Water Day." 

The theme is asking to all the member states, including Korea, a question, "what does water mean to you?" by saying that water gives us very diverse and different value.

As a response to the question, the Korean government selected this year's theme in Korea as "the value of water, the value of the future."

It means we should understand the various value water gives to humans and nature and save it for the future generations. 

During the ceremony, there will be an award ceremony for those who contributed to water management. 

A total of 16 people will be awarded government prizes: including the Order of Service Merit for one; the Service Merit Medal for one; Presidential Citation Ribbons for six; and Prime Minister's Citation Ribbons for eight. Furthermore, Mr. Kim Jwa Kwan, Professor of the Catholic University of Pusan, and Mr. Lee Jae Eung, Professor of Ajou University have been selected as the recipients of the Order of Service Merit Red Stripes and the Service Merit Medal, respectively. 

On the same day, the policy seminar will be held on the sidelines with co-chairs of the Ministry of Environment and the Korean Federation of Water Science and Engineering Society (KFWSES) at exhibition room No. 2 on the 3rd floor of BEXCO. 

Under the overall theme of "Value of water, shared by humans and nature," the academia, environmental activist groups, and water management agencies gather, selected the following topics, and will discuss policy directions for future water management: i) water and public welfare; ii) water and ecosystem; iii) water and resilience of nature; iv) water, climate and energy; and v) water and economic development. 

The Ministry of Environment will launch various promotion events to celebrate "World Water Day." 

For instance, the Ministry filmed a video, titled "Mission Impossooble," and released it on its official account on Youtube on March 17th. The video clip features Ms. Kim Sook, a television personality, who describes the variety of value water brings to us and our planet. 

※ Search "Ministry of Environment" on Youtube. 

Moreover, a one-liter water challenge event, called "I've even done OOO with one liter of water," is being held on social networking websites, such as the Ministry's blog and Facebook during March so that people can realize the value of water. 

The Korea Water Resources Corporation, K-water, affiliated with the Ministry of Environment, plans to launch an "Emoticon Design Contest for World Water Day" from 22 March to 29 April 2021. 

After the ceremony, Minister Han will visit the estuary bank of the Nakdong River and attend a signboard hanging ceremony of the "Integrated Operation Center of Nakdong River Estuary Bank," which is in overall control of ecological recovery at the estuary bank of the Nakdong River. 

Minister Han mentioned, "water has a variety of forms of value which is so diverse that we cannot even list each of them. To that end, all the efforts to conserve such value will be the way towards progression on the Green New Deal and carbon neutrality." She added, "the Ministry of Environment, as a competent government body of water management and carbon neutrality policies, will spare no effort in ensuring the public stays safe from the danger of a lack of water and climate change."