[The Hwankyung Ilbo] Amid the growing number of foreigners residing in Korea and tourists, the waste separation emissions policy for foreigners such as a standard plastic garbage bag written in foreign language, was found to be insufficient.

According to data from the Ministry of Environment, the number of foreign residents in Korea increased 2.5 times from about 590,000 in 2010 to about 1.48 million in 2017. The annual number of tourists also rose sharply from about 7.81 million in 2009 to about 15.34 million in 2018.

However, only 48 of the 229 basic local governments were found to have foreign language guidelines on the standard plastic garbage bag.

The Busan city government with 13 of the 16 basic local governments implementing the policy, marked the highest implementation rate of 81%.

The Ministry of Environment believes that foreign language guidance on the discharge of household waste should be provided in accordance with the increase in the number of foreigners, but the ministry's related guidelines do not specify the mark of foreign languages on the plastic garbage bag.

조수빈 리포터  press@hkbs.co.kr

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