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| Rep. Hong Il-pyo of the Liberty Korea Party /Courtesy of Hong's office |
By Choi Ha-young
Last winter, long padded jackets could be seen on the freezing cold streets of Korea. As spring blooms, fine dust is expected to get into full swing. To tackle climate change, Rep. Hong Il-pyo of the conservative Liberty Korea Party (LKP) is leading the National Assembly Forum on Climate Change.
Atypical of Korean politics studded with ideological confrontation, the forum is co-chaired by Reps. Hong and Han Jeoung-ae of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. Justice Party Chairwoman Lee Jeong-mi is chief researcher of the forum.
"Other than the three parties, academics, civic groups and companies are taking part in the forum. With diverse experts, we can communicate, study and legislate laws through it," Hong said in an interview with The Korea Times at his office, Tuesday.
The bipartisan forum is aimed at promoting environmentally-friendly facilities with citizens and attracting cooperation from businesses. "It is also important to facilitate financial investment in companies that are making efforts to cut carbon emissions," he said.
The forum's latest emphasis is on fine dust in a bid to back up the Paris Agreement that Korea signed in 2015. In implementing the agreement to cut emissions, Korea can exert strong leadership to moderate quarrels between developed and developing countries, Hong noted. "Korea is an in-between nation."
"We can coordinate how much developed countries should shoulder the expense to support environmental-friendly technologies. Also, Seoul can easily grasp what kinds of technologies developing countries need to make the leap forward, with its experience of green growth."
The point that he highlights is "adaptation" to climate change, particularly for social minorities who are more vulnerable to heat waves and fierce cold. For this, he submitted a revision bill, the Low-Carbon Green Growth Act, last July, along with 11 other lawmakers.
The bill stipulates the government's duty to take care of "social groups vulnerable to climate change" in policy making. "This is also a matter of welfare to provide better services for citizens," Hong said.
Other than the environment, the judge-turned-politician is concerned with refugees' rights, multicultural families, corporate social responsibility and the rights of North Korean defectors ― issues that are far from vote winners.
"Whenever I visit refugee camps abroad, I always check whether there are North Koreans by any chance and ask foreign lawmakers to take care of them," said Hong, who is also leading the National Assembly Human Rights Forum.
Unlike the nation's mainstream conservatives, which often adopt the North Korean human rights issue as a measure of diplomatic pressure, Hong accentuated the people perspective. "In terms of the reciprocal approach, Korea should protect refugees before asking for help for North Koreans," he said.
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