Category: Features

Environment Profile

Be the Change You Want to See in the World: An Interview with Lee Na-gyeong

Gwangju News

Youth Climate Emergency Action is a rather new group consisting of young people in their 20s. On their website, they describe themselves as “a non-violent, direct-action group on the climate crisis.” These young people are not climate experts, but rather ordinary people like you and me with one ultimate goal: to realize climate justice for all countries, regions, classes, generations, genders, and species. They demand drastic reductions in greenhouse gases and other transformations from countries and big companies.

Human Rights Profile

Climate Crisis, Displacement, and Human Rights à la Special Rapporteur Ian Fry: Featured Speaker at WHRCF 2022

Gwangju News

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) established the mandate of the special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change at its forty-eighth session in October 2021 (RES/48/14), following which Dr. Fry was appointed as the first to fill the role in March 2022 and began his duty in May 2022. Among others, the roles of the special rapporteur include studying and identifying the ways in which the adverse effects of climate change affect the full and effective enjoyment of human rights and make recommendations on how to address and prevent these adverse effects, as well as promoting and exchanging views on lessons learned and best practices related to the adoption of human rights-based, gender-responsive, age-sensitive, disability-inclusive, and risk-informed approaches to climate change adaptation and mitigation policies, all of which lead to making Dr. Fry a distinguished speaker at the 12th WHRCF.

Human Rights

Rest in Peace “Jimmy” Kyaw Min Yu

Gwangju News

On July 23, 2022, the military in Myanmar secretly executed four leaders of the country’s freedom movement. The martyrs’ families, like the men themselves, were not given advance notice. Final goodbyes were never said. Only after the dictatorship publicly announced the hangings two days later, on Monday, July 25, did the families and the world learn about these cold-blooded murders. To add to the pain, the remains of the deceased have disappeared. The regime is being as brutal as possible in order to make clear that opposition to their rule will result in maximum pain and suffering. Among those killed were some of the most loved and popular leaders of the ongoing movement to overthrow the dictatorship: hip hop artist and elected parliamentary representative, Phyo Zeya Tha, leader of Generation Wave, which followed the 2007 Saffron Revolution; Hla Myo Aung; Aung Thura Zaw; and Kyaw Min Yu – better known to his friends, among whom I count myself, as “Jimmy.”

Human Rights

Why Human Rights in the Climate Crisis Era?

Gwangju News

Many scientists have warned that we would face devastating consequences when the temperature rises by 1.5˚C from the level of the beginning of industrialization. Currently, however, we have come closer to that point. Therefore, now is time for us to raise awareness of and take actions against the climate crisis in order to brace for more serious risks in the future.

Profile

Jun Woong-tae: Leading Korea in the Modern Pentathlon

Gwangju News

South Korea has been participating in the modern pentathlon in the Olympics since 1964, but it was only 57 years later, at the Tokyo Olympics, that Korea finally won a medal. Jun Woong-tae, who is originally from Seoul but represents Gwangju as a member of the City Hall club, earned a bronze medal for Korea, making it the first-ever medal for the country, and finished the competition with 1,470 points. To Jun, his bronze medal is as valuable as winning gold. However, he aims to have the Taegukki (태극기, Korea’s national flag) fly even higher in future Olympic Games. Aside from the bronze, Jun has also won four gold medals at UIPM World Championships and another gold at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.

May 18

May 18: Lasting Effects on a Life

Gwangju News

By David Dolinger I I have thought long and hard about what I could write for you, how I could regal you in tales about Gwangju and Jeollanam-do in the … Read More

Profile

Gwangju Mayor for Tomorrow: An Exclusive Interview with the Hon. Kang Gi-Jung

Gwangju News

Mayor Kang’s economic map, which will include new growth for AI and the manufacturing industries, hopes to make Gwangju a strong city that can lead in the industries of tomorrow. He wants his administration to be a creative one through which Gwangju can provide more opportunities to its citizens to grow and develop for their “tomorrow.” With these visions in mind, the Gwangju News was keen to meet with the mayor and sit down to ask him about additional plans he might have for the “City of Light.”

May 18

Tim Warnberg’s Legacy Deserves Notice: Part I 

Gwangju News

Tim Warnberg was a 24-year-old American Peace Corps volunteer who lived in Gwangju and worked at Chonnam University Hospital as a Hansen’s Disease case worker. During the Uprising, he remained in the city to help take care of the citizens.1 Tim was selfless during that time, doing all that he could to aid the citizens, and he has long been recognized for his contributions. There is no question that Tim played an important role in Gwangju before, during, and after the Uprising.