The volcanic island of Ulleung is located about 120 k east of the Korean Peninsula in the Japan Sea. The 70 km squared land is home to 10’000 inhabitants and forms part of Ulleung County, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea.
Ulleung Island, courtesy Steve Barber
An article in the Korea Herald reports that following in the footsteps of Danish Samso Island, the Korean government has set high goals to make Ulleung a zero-carbon island, which it announced at inter-regional meeting on Ulleung in April this year. This means most of the energy produced on the island will have to be replaced with clean, renewable sources, such as solar and wind.
Song Got Ulleung, courtesy Steve Barber
The ambitious plans to create a green energy, green life and green tourism will see the introduction of green homes with the additional goal of making the
island an eco-tourism destination, along with the nearby disputed Dokdo or Liancourt Rocks.
For more information on Ulleung Island, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulleung_Island
http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20110427000717
Korean green plans extend to disputed Dokdo Islands
Another story filed by the Korean newswire Yonap on the same day reports the push by South Korean lawmakers to designate the East Sea islands of Ulleung and Dokdo as national parks. What is interesting about this article is that it states clearly that the motive for making this law is not to preserve the environment, rather it is part of political move in ongoing efforts to counter territorial claims by Japan that the Dokdo islands belong to Japan.
The South Korean government has also announced plans to construct a maritime science base off Dokdo’s coasts next year.
For more information, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liancourt_Rocks
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/04/117_85963.html
