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80,000 in Seoul, South Korea protest U.S. beef over mad cow disease: Would boycott work better?
What burgers are to the United States, a good marinade of galbi (barbecued beef) is to South Korea. (And man, does it taste good!)
Mad Cow Disease Scare
However, according to United Press International, the South Korean market closed its doors to U.S. beef imports after mad cow disease hit the U.S. in 2003. After a four year ban on imports, the cautious reopening of the South Korean market in 2007 to beef from the U.S. met reservations from the public. These reservations turned to outrage, however, after Lee Myung-bak agreed to resume U.S. beef imports without restriction during his golfing trip and fireside chat, er, “diplomatic” visit to Camp David in April.
By Gavin Hudson •
May 21, 2008
Chosun University may have the hottest male and female college dorms in the world — if you’re talking solar energy.
Atop both the men’s and women’s dorm a 25 kilowatt solar system pumps out energy. The combined electricity generation of the two buildings is an impressive 50 kw.
The dorms are connected to the energy grid of Gwangju city, where the university is located. When the buildings make more energy than students use, excess energy flows into the city’s grid. When students use more than the solar systems can produce (say, due to post-final exam parties), the dorms simply top up with energy from the city’s supply.
By Gavin Hudson •
May 17, 2008
Manufacturers of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels know the panel’s theoretical efficiency, but it’s much more difficult to tell the actual efficiency. For this, solar companies send their panels to a lab for testing under real weather conditions.
Recently, I visited such a solar testing lab — the Solar Power Research Lab at Chosun University in Gwangju, South Korea. I was greeted by Mr. Choi Jong-sik, an engineer and a graduate of the department.
Out front of this lab, a small field of solar panels soak up sunlight. The panel’s designs range from flat to arched and even rotating; some are varicolored polycrystalline, others are neatly lined monocrystalline. Rotating panels have tracking devices that follow the sun (pictured here). The panels can rotate 180° and swivel vertically 53°, following the sun’s path across the sky. The array and variety of panels is stunning.
By Gavin Hudson •
December 19, 2007
What’s it like helping to clean up after the single worst ecological disaster in a nation’s history? Ecoworldly went to the Taean Peninsula–the site of South Korea’s recent oil spill–to lend a hand and find out.
There is, perhaps, the sense in the West that Asian countries are less concerned about the environment. Ten years ago, this may have been true. However, ask one of the tens of thousands of Korean volunteers who have come to help clean up the massive 10-million liter (2.6m gallon) oil spill off the West Coast of their country, and you’ll hear another story.
Jun Ho Kim, a university student and volunteer at the oil cleanup, says, “All of the Korean people think about the environment. People used to think that development was best; they only thought about development. Their consciousness has changed. Their concept about the world has changed.
