In South Korea, pandemic data transparency comes at a high cost Published: 28 January 2021 Commentary Efforts to follow social distancing and mask-wearing rules have been crucial to South Korea’s success in containing the Covid-19 pandemic, but experts worry that other measures—such as sharing data from confirmed cases—have stigmatised and harmed marginalised communities. By Dahye Yim and Christoph Mayer
South Korea’s Green New Deal has failed to create green jobs Published: 21 December 2020 Commentary The creation of “green jobs” has been a key focus of South Korea’s current Green New Deal policy. However, the government has made little progress in accomplishing its stated goals and ambitions, including offering decent compensation to young workers and career seekers. This article explores why this is the case. By LEE Taedong
Energy transition in East Asia fails to meet carbon neutral pledges Published: 21 December 2020 Commentary Both Japan and South Korea have announced that they would become carbon neutral by 2050. However, neither country has a clear roadmap or specific policies to attain this target. And, in fact, both governments are pursuing policies that are inconsistent with their pledges. By ASUKA Jusen
What Makes a City Smart and Green in South Korea? Published: 7 October 2020 Analysis How is the city you live in changing? And what does the city of your dreams look like? Recently, cities are undergoing drastic changes on two axes: smart cities and green cities. The new city of Songdo in South Korea offers insights into what is truly needed in the transformation of an Asian city. By Noh Jae-in , Michael Manning and Jill L. Tao
South Korea’s Reforms Should not be Called a Green New Deal Published: 14 September 2020 Commentary South Korea has put forth a “Green New Deal”, whose ambiguous targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and failure to propose a just transition to clean energy make the program unworthy of its name. By Lee Yujin
Activists in Asia fear anti-disinformation efforts will suppress free speech Published: 28 July 2020 Analysis In Singapore and South Korea, fact-checking initiatives have been effective in fighting Covid-19 disinformation. But other tactics – like confusing or overly broad laws – could be used to maintain political power. By Christy Tsang