Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gatsby]

[sojourner1]

Yes, Asia needs to clean up it's act as it's worse than a disgusting arm pit. They seem to not care about neighbors so they don't care about the environment nor if there is going to be a tomorrow for life on Earth. They're just leaving the world a big mess and don't even care about just how bad it will be for today's kids and future generations.

This is the terrible side effect of westernization and globalization as America demanded for them to be cheaper than cheap in producing all this crap. It's all about produce, produce, and produce hardware that involves many dangerous chemical processes while all the waste by products flow into the air and sea. Can't any of the locals see that the fish and other seafood is awful here, because it's so dirty with pollution? Can't anyone see how hazy the sky looks a lot and how so many suffer people respiratory problems? Koreans and Chinese don't speak up nor comment as that would losing face. Losing face or not, there will come a time to be more responsible in managing waste instead of letting it enter the environment, because it's cost effective in the short term to do nothing. I can tell these people are very uncomfortable, under a lot of physical stresses, and up tight, but just bend over with no lube in an act of saving face and national pride/patriotism.

[Gatsby]

I think that's a little unfair to blame America for Asia's pollution, though there is some truth to it. But Asia is not just exporting to the U.S., it is exporting everywhere, including Asia. And I don't think America "demanded" that Asia be cheap. I America had stiff import tariffs, I could see this being true, but they don't, so Asia really doesn't have to make stuff so cheap to compete.

What bugs me is they don't have a clue that the rest of the world isn't like this. A textbook says that pollution is a major problem worldwide. I tried telling the class that this is no longer true, and that in the U.S. and Canada, and presumably Europe, there is virtually no air pollution, at least not the kind you can see, because of pollution controls. This did not get translated. Apparently they justify rampant pollution with the assumption that everybody else does it, including the U.S.

And if you ask a Korean outside of Seoul what that thick haze is, or what is causing it, they probably will say they don't know. I think this generation thinks it what the sky looks like, and is a normal part of nature.

I'm amazed there aren't more Koreans with emphysema.

[buymybook]

I just saw a CNN news report on the "Brown Cloud" and they cleary did not inlcude Seoul or S. Korea as being in the path. They showed the Brown Cloud missing S. Korea to the south. Japan was not included either in the path of the "Brown Cloud." I don't know, maybe CNN is AFRAID of depicting S. Korea in the path as they are with most things pertaining to S. Korea?

Okay, here is my proof...
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2008/11/13/vause.china.big.brown.cloud.cnn

This is a case of CNN International completely ignoring the facts by the United Nations(if the New York Times article is correct). Now, how/why could/would this happen? I propose that CNN International is more Pro S. Korea than it is Republican and I'm an Independent! Or, are they just SCARED of the S. Korean NETIZEN(s)?

[justaguy]

I thought a bad economy made less smoke not more.

[ajuma]

If you've ever been in Prague in the winter, you know what a brown cloud is. Some houses still burn brown coal. They also suffer from "inversion", when the clouds are so thick that the warm (polluted) air stays down. Whew!!

[Whirlwind]

Gee, ya think. I mean, considering the way that Korea treats their environment, they deserve whatever health problems they get. Maybe you can get the number 1 ranking...Korea: Hub of Pollution. You go, Korea.

[Gatsby]

What do you expect when they allow people to burn any garbage they want in big piles, instead of paying a few won to send them to the dump -- and to recycling?

Yesterday I saw the remains of garbage that had been burned that day. Among the remains, broken fluorescent light tubes.

Koreans aren't just sending carbon into the air, they are sending mercury into the environment. And apparently nobody is bothering to tell them about the dangers. Ask any Korean if they have ever heard of the dangers of mercury in fish.

Koreans are clueless.

[MrRogers]

[weatherman]

I remember once getting near the top of Kwan-ak Sun (mountian) on the south side of Seoul. Looking in a north-easterly direction, out into the horizon, a brown film of pollutants covered all that I could see. It was ugly.

[justaguy]

No brown cloud today. The rain washed it all away.

[Whirlwind]

yeah, but it'll return tomorrow.

[justaguy]

You're right. It did return.