Golf courses, a major source of water pollution, surge in number in S. Korea

The number of golf courses in South Korea, mong major emitters of wastewater, is surging with 516 in 2020, up by 188 since 2010, as ‘golf fever’ sweeps across the country.

Other sources of water pollution such as livestock farms, junkyards, and jewelry workshops are dwindling in number.

The number of livestock farms stood at 194,665, down by 3,564 from 2019. The number of livestock stood at 247.1 million, down by 44.9 million.

There were 139,753 tons of animal excrement produced each day as of 2020, down by 13,467 tons from 2019, according to the Ministry of Environment.

The National Institute of Environmental Research reported that more than 4.8 million tons of wastewater were being released from 54,870 locations in the country each day as of 2020.

The amount was 87,000 tons more than in 2019.