“In Busan, climate action was difficult but I saw the possibility by meeting large groups when participating in the climate justice march.” (So Jin-Hee, Representative of club “Naeil”, Dept. of History Education,14)

On September 24th, Climate crisis association club “Nae il” of Pusan National University (PNU) participated in the “924 Climate Justice March” held near the City Hall station and Sungnyemun Gate in Gwanghwamun, Seoul.  The march was recorded as the most extensive climate action held in Korea, with 35,000 people estimated by the organizers. The Climate Justice March with the slogan “The climate disaster, we cannot live like this,” people who sympathized with the climate discourse that developed to the level of disaster beyond change and crisis gathered to participate in open microphone, rally and march, a cultural festival, and so on.

Even within PNU, more students are joining the march and adding their voices to cope with the climate crisis. Representative So said, “Despite the difficulty of opening a booth because they did not reside in Seoul, it was impressive that a large number of people opened the booth and actively participated in the march.” Shin Ji-hoon (Dept. of Business, 19), who attached a hand-written poster, "Let’s join the climate justice march!," on the school bulletin board said, “I was surprised by the tremendous scale of the march and had a novel experience that many people were calling for radical changes in the climate crisis.”

The PNU members who participated in the march said that they will continue their activities in Busan in the future. Club Naeil’s activities focused on *plogging in the first semester, but they plan to hold campaigns calling for policy changes to resolve the climate crisis or lectures in the second semester. Representative So said, "Busan is now a situation where the group movement of university students is starting, but in Seoul, many teenagers were also participating. Through this march, I felt the need for local climate action."

Kim Hyun-Wook (Activist, Energy Justice Actions) who led the Busan team that came up to Seoul of the 924 Climate Justice March said, "The participation of young people has increased noticeably. It was a touching Saturday to see university students who will lead future generations to recognize the challenge facing them and shout together that the beginning of inequality is a climate crisis."

*Plogging : picking up trash with jogging

Reporter Choi Sun-Woo

Translated by Lim Chae-Kyung