SEOUL, July 22 (Korea Bizwire) — A civic group claimed Thursday that highly toxic pesticides have been used extensively in Seoul’s public green spaces such as parks and palaces as well as on street trees.
The Korean Federation for Environmental Movement received data on the use of pesticides sprayed in the capital city’s public green spaces during the 2017 to 2021 period from 31 public institutions including the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
The analysis showed that the quantity of pesticides sprayed in Seoul’s self-governing districts over the past five years averaged 1,098 kilograms.
Among the parks run directly by the city government, the most heavily affected park was Namsan Park (517 kilograms).
![Ç×°ø¹æÁ¦ [¼¿ï½Ã Á¦°ø=¿¬ÇÕ´º½º]](http://koreabizwire.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/C0A8CAE20000015D537C96FF000021FE.jpg)
Olympic Park, which has been managed through outsourcing by the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation, an organization that aims to commemorate the 1988 Seoul Olympics and manage related assets, used 1,142 kilograms of pesticides over the past five years.
In particular, the pesticides that have carcinogenic agents and reproductive toxicity were used most frequently.
During the same period, the palaces and royal tombs managed by the Cultural Heritage Administration were sprayed with 6,065 kilograms of pesticides, about six times higher than the average amount of pesticides sprayed in Seoul’s self-governing districts.
The environmental group urged the self-governing districts and related agencies in charge of managing the city’s public green spaces to ban the use of Neonicotinoid and other deadly poisonous pesticides that can threaten the lives of honey bees.
Image Credit: Cultural Heritage Administration / Seoul Metropolitan Government / photonews@koreabizwire.com
