Social Justice Activism

victims of such environmental damages. While the socially and economically weak
citizens suffered from the environmental changes, most of the benefits went to the
industries and conglomerates with political power.
Construction of industrial complex was also criticized in the context of environmental
justice. The conflict in Wicheon region is one example. The region became the center of
controversy when the government decided to build industrial complex of dye houses,
which were formerly located in Daegu metropolitan region. As a result of the
construction, Nakdong River, which is one of the main rivers in South Korea, was
contaminated and local residents suffered from environmental changes caused by the
construction.
Environmental justice is a growing issue in South Korea. Although the issue is not yet
widely recognized compared to other countries, many organizations beginning to
recognize the issue.
Between Northern and Southern Countries
Environmental discrimination in a global perspective is also an important factor when
examining the Environmental Justice movement. Even though the Environmental
Justice movement began in the United States, the United States also contributes to
expanding the amount of environmental injustice that takes place in less-developed
countries. Some companies in the United States and in other developed nations around
the world contribute to the injustice by shipping the toxic waste and byproducts of
factories to less-developed countries for disposal. This act increases the amount of
waste in the third world countries, most of which do not have proper sanitation for their
own waste much less the waste of another country. Often, the people of the lessdeveloped
countries are exposed to toxins from this waste and do not even realize what
kind of waste they are encountering or the health problems that could come with it.
One prominent example of northern countries shipping their waste to southern countries
took place in Haiti. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania had ash from the incineration of toxic
waste that they did not have room to dump. Philadelphia decided to put the ash into the
hands of a private company, which shipped the ash and dumped it in various other parts
of the world, outside of the United States. The Khian Sea, the ship the ash was put on,
sailed around the world and many countries would not accept the waste because it was
hazardous for the environment and the people. The ship owners finally dumped the
waste, labeled Fertilizer, in Haiti, on the beach, and sailed away in the night. The
government of Haiti was infuriated and called for the waste to be removed, but the
company would not come to take the ash away. The fighting over who was responsible
for the waste and who would remove the waste went on for many years. After debating
for over ten years, the waste was removed and taken back to a site just outside
Philadelphia to be disposed of permanently.
The reason that this transporting of waste from Northern countries to the Southern
countries takes place is because it is cheaper to transport waste to another country and
dump it there, than to pay to dump the waste in the producing country because the third
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