Korea South Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

air pollution in large cities; acid rain; water pollution from the discharge of sewage and industrial effluents; drift net fishing; solid waste disposal; transboundary air pollution from China

Environment - international agreements

party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter; cold winters

Land use

agricultural land: 18.1% (2018 est.)

arable land: 15.3% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 2.2% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 0.6% (2018 est.)

forest: 63.9% (2018 est.)

other: 18% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 81.5% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 0.31% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.01% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 24.04 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 620.3 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 30.28 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 18,218,975 tons (2014 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 10,567,006 tons (2014 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 58% (2014 est.)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 6.672 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 4.45 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 15.96 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

69.7 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Geoparks

total global geoparks and regional networks: 5

global geoparks and regional networks: Cheongsong; Hantangang; Jeju Island; Jeonbuk West Coast; Mudeungsan (2023)