On May 18, the World Meteorological Organization published the “State of the Global Climate in 2021 report”. The report, which analyzed greenhouse gas concentrations, sea level rise, ocean heat, and ocean acidification to determine the severity of the climate crisis, revealed that all four indicators are at record highs compared to previous years.

In fact, this year, we have witnessed how climate change has damaged many parts of the world. Heat waves of more than 40 degrees Celsius hit Britain, forest fires in France burned 20,000 hectares of forest, and one-third of Pakistan’s land was flooded and more than 1,000 people were killed displacing hundreds of thousands and affecting millions. In Korea, heavy rain and typhoons caused a lot of damage as well.

But there is still a lack of movement to address the climate crisis around the world. In 2021,  rich countries failed to deliver the promised $100 billion in climate finance to developing countries to help them transition to renewable energy and adapt to climate change but poured $2 trillion into war. Furthermore, the United States’ global network of 800 military bases consumes 1.5 million liters of oil daily. The Yoon Suk Yeol’s administration in Korea is also moving away from solving the climate crisis: reducing its renewable energy budget by $2 billion while expanding nuclear and coal power.

Save Lives, End the Catastrophic System! 

On Sept. 24, the "September Climate Justice Action Organizing Committee," consisting of more than 400 organizations, including the environment, labor, education, religion, and women's organizations, held the 9.24 Climate Justice March around Seoul Plaza. The International Strategy Center also joined the rally, which involved 35,000 people. As many people at the rally shouted, we must continue to demand fundamental change to address the climate crisis: instead of leaving the climate crisis to the market, we need to step and act together to build society beyond capitalism.

We, at the ISC, will also continue being a platform for that change. 

The Two Faces of Inflation

Bae Jaehong (Policy Research Team)  

Workers, ordinary people, small and medium-sized business owners and the self-employed are enduring the pain of the economic recession with their entire bodies.

With the outbreak of COVID-19 at the end of 2019 and its spread across the world, workers, ordinary people, small and medium-sized merchants and the self-employed were inevitably hit hard by the impact on the economy of each country’s policies to prevent the spread of the virus such as border closures. 

People’s movement rapidly decreased as more people began working from home and many restaurants and cafes closed due to the lack of customers. In order to overcome the crisis, each country has injected huge amounts of money to restore the economy, but workers, ordinary people, small and medium-sized business owners and the self-employed are still experiencing much hardship.

Recently, inflation-related news has been heavily covered in the media. Korea’s consumer price index rose to 3.2% in October 2021 and has been steadily on the rise, reaching 5.4% in May 2022. The rise in cost of living that consumers actually feel is now 6.7%. Industrial products rose by 8.3% over the previous year, while agricultural products rose by 4.2%. The cost of public utilities such as electricity, gas, and water also surged 9.6%. 

It Was the Struggle in the Streets That Won Abortion

interviewed by Zoe Yungmi Blank (Networking Team)

edited by Matthew Phillips (Networking Team)

Our September Progressive Forum, "Amidst US-China Decoupling: What Now for the Korean Peninsula", was co-sponsored by DSA International Committee. In the forum, the ISC networking team prepared a brief intro presentation on the history of the issue. It was followed by an interview with our guest speaker, Professor Lee Jung-Chul, Director of Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University. 

ISC began news briefing in August. We discover progressive articles at home and abroad three times a week and share them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in Korean and English. We are planning to prepare and share news briefings that will develop in the future. If you like and follow the SNS of the International Strategy Center and share it with others, it will be a great help.