Ecological economist Lester R. Brown in his book “Plan B 3.0” suggested six grand strategies for overcoming the global climate and ecological crises, one of which is to restore lost forests around the world. Forests originally covered around 60 to 70 percent of land (13 billion hectares). However, the proportion of forests has been reduced to around 31 percent (4 billion hectares) due to the desertification, deforestation, conversion of forest, and expansion of agricultural and past

Despite a court ruling in favor of a soldier who was forcibly discharged after she received gender reassignment surgery, the military is still cautious about crafting a transgender policy because it is not ready to deal with the issue, military officials said Tuesday. In January 2020, Byun Hee-soo, who was the country’s first openly transgender soldier, was dismissed from the Army, which found her mentally and physical unfit to serve after she had her male genitals removed. Byun filed a l

South Korean steelmaker Posco has succeeded in locally producing special steel pipes for hydrogen transportation and will supply them for the first time to the city of Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, the company said Tuesday. Until now, South Korea has relied on imported, small-caliber seamless steel pipes with a width about 15 centimeters for hydrogen transportation. Bigger pipes, as wide as 20 centimeters, are needed to carry the big volume of hydrogen transfer needed in the hydrogen test bed ci

Hyundai Glovis, the logistics arm of Hyundai Motor Group, is joining hands with Air Products & Chemicals, a US-based industrial gas manufacturer, to speed up the development of a liquefied hydrogen supply chain, the company said Tuesday. Hyundai Glovis CEO Kim Jung-hoon signed the supply chain agreement during a videoconference with Air Products & Chemicals Asia President Wilbur Mok as well as Korea unit CEO Kim Kyo-young. “We expect a great synergy from the partnership, a

The director of Netflix’s “My Name,” Kim Jin-min, was surprised to hear about the growing popularity of the mystery crime series. “While I expected some questions and comments, I was surprised that the viewers interpreted my work in very creative ways, speculating on the reasons for a character’s behavior. One way or the other, all of these are a way of showing interest in the series. For that, I would like to thank all the ‘My Name’ fans,” the di

The National Security Council expressed "deep regret" Tuesday over North Korea's launch of a short-range ballistic missile and urged Pyongyang to return to dialogue. The council met shortly after the North fired the missile toward the East Sea, according to Cheong Wa Dae. "The council members expressed deep regret that North Korea's launch occurred while active consultations are under way with the United States, China, Japan, Russia and other major countries to advance the Korea

Proportion of sexual misdemeanors infringing teachers’ rights exceed 10% for 1st time in 2020

The first snow of the season fell on a portion of Mount Seorak in the northeast of the country Tuesday, 15 days earlier than last year, park authorities said. Flakes began falling at about 10 a.m. around Jungcheong Shelter, 1,676 meters above sea level, according to the Seoraksan National Park Office. The temperature was 0.4 C and the wind speed was 0.6 meters per second at that time. Snowfall was too light to accumulate, officials said. The season's first snow event occurred 15 days earlier

South and North Korea held their regular phone call via the liaison hotline Tuesday morning, but Pyongyang gave no prior notice of its latest missile launch, an official at Seoul's unification ministry said. In its latest show of force, the North fired a ballistic missile into the East Sea from near Sinpo, where it is known to be developing a new submarine capable of launching ballistic missiles, according to South Korea's military. "The liaison call occurred as normal this morning. (Nort

Eight Army soldiers have tested positive for COVID-19, raising the total caseload reported among the military population to 1,973, the defense ministry said Tuesday. Six trainees at a boot camp in Yeoncheon, 62 kilometers north of Seoul, were found to have contracted the virus while in quarantine following the coronavirus outbreak in their unit. They were not fully vaccinated. An Army officer based in Yangju, north of Seoul, and an enlisted soldier stationed in Paju, 30 km north of the capital

Organizers will be punished if rally violates quarantine rules, prime minister warns

The number of employees in the food service segment rebounded in April from a year earlier as the job market recovered amid the economic recovery, data showed Tuesday. The number of people employed at restaurants and eateries reached 1.6 million in April, 65,000 more than the previous year, according to Statistics Korea. The tally rebounded from October 2020 when the number of such workers fell 179,000, marking a record on-year fall. Still, the total number of workers in the food service segm

The state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) said Tuesday it has successfully issued $1.5 billion worth of bonds to foreign investors. The lender has sold 10-year bonds worth $300 million and 5 1/2-year bonds worth $500 million. The KDB has also issued $700 million worth of green bonds that will come due in three years and three months, which will be used to finance Green New Deal projects, such as rechargeable batteries and renewable energy. The state bank said its has floated those bonds at t

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea rose sharply in September from a month earlier as exporters increased dollar holdings, central bank data showed Tuesday. Residents' outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits came to $94.2 billion as of end-September, up $1.6 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). It represents the second consecutive month of on-month increase. In August, they climbed by $470 million from the previous month. Residents inc

More than masters of the charts, globetrotting act also masters in dressing