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Organization : Ministry of Environment - Republic of Korea
Acronym: : MoE-Republic of Kore
Nationality of the organisation of establishment : Korea Year of establishment : 1980
college to which your organisation belongs to :
College 2:Government and government promoted organisations
Scope of your organisation : National
 Are you organiation's activities focused primarily on water and sanitation ? : Yes No
Please indicate your organisation's field(s) of expertise and activities :
  • Water resources management
  • Basic Human needs or health
  • Development or infrastructure
  • Climate or natural hazards
  • Environment or ecosystems
  • Water supply or sanitation
  • Agriculture or food production
  • Human rights or social issues
  • Education or capacity building
  • Human settlements or habitats
  • Regulation and governance
  • Economics or finance
  • Research or development
  • Energy or industry
  • Media awareness
  • International cooperation or humanitarian relief
You may specify your activities by providing a list of more precise keywords:
Description of your Organisation's activities : The Korean Ministry of Environment(MoE) is in charge of national environmental protection from threats of environmental pollution and improvement of quality of life for the public so that the people can enjoy ambient natural environment, clean water and clear skies. Under this mission, MoE takes responsibilities in planning and carrying out natural environment conservation, water environment management, waste management, and air environment conservation. MoE also implements policy on the nature and ecology conservation, national park management, environmental impact assessment as well as management of the air pollutants emitting facilities as well. The MoE has so far been responsible for the quality of drinking water and ecological stream restoration projects, water environment management master plan, and sewerage system. The MoE has mainly controlled the water quality, with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport controlling the quantity. However, in accordance with revision of a Korean government organization bill, the approval has laid the legal groundwork for the unified water management system this year so that the Ministry of Environment to take charge of managing both the quantity and quality of water. The MoE takes charge of managing both the quantity and quality of water by establishing and developing the integrated water management system. MoE has enhanced inter-Korean cooperation focusing on the integrated water management and expanded its scope based on the international cooperation with the relevant international organizations such as the World Water Council, UNESCO, OECD, UNEP, ESCAP, and etc. The MoE has developed its plans to be a more responsible actor in the international community by contributing to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) achievement through diversified cooperative activities and policy implementation.

Governor representative :
First Name : Hajoon Last Name : Park
Title : Mr. Position : Assistant Minister
Nationality : Korea Gender : Male Female
Email : leeky2001@korea.kr
background : Mr. Hajoon Park, the Assistant Minister of the Water Resources Policy Bureau of the Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea is currently in charge of overall water resources management in the Republic of Korea. Mr. Park served as the chief of the Han River Flood Control Office (FCO) of the Ministry of Environment for the past five years. As Korea has suffered from serious natural disasters including the localized and seasonal heavy rainfalls and typhoons in summer, the flood damage has become even bigger challenge in recent years with the problems of frequent droughts in winter and spring. Mr. Park has managed all tasks for reduction of floods and droughts of Han River, one of four major rivers of the Republic of Korea. He was also in charge of stabilization of water supply through proper water allocation between upstream and downstream based on precise flood forecast and monitoring. He also took the responsibility for the prevention of flood and drought damage of Han River. His extensive career in management of the major river and the expertise in water risks and prevention derived from his abundant experiences and insights based on a strong academic background. He holds a master's degree both in architecture and civil engineering from Hanyang university in Korea and UC Berkeley in the United States.

Alternate representative :
First Name : Heekyu Last Name : Jung
Title : Mr. Postion : Director
Nationality : Korea Gender :
Email : yoonjinwater@koreawaterforum.org
background : Mr. Heekyu Jung, the Director of the Water Resources Policy Bureau of the Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea is in charge of water resources policy in the Republic of Korea. He has dedicated himself, over the past 20 years, to national water resources management since his joining public service. He served as the director of River management division and the director of the Water Resources Policy Division. During those periods of taking responsibilities for river management and policy planning, Mr. Jung led and managed effective management as well as the use of water resources. He also planned the water resources policy for the integrated water management. His expertise in national and regional water management has been continuously developed with his vast experiences in national mega projects for river restoration and water management. He earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Seoul National University.

Organisation statement:
Please describe the involvement of your organisation within the World Water Council and state how long it has been involved in World Water Council activities : Korea fully supports the initiatives of the World Water Council(WWC) to solve global water problems, and has maintained a close partnership with the Council since the 2nd World Water Forum in 2000.The Korean Ministry of Environment (MoE) has been a member of the WWC since 2008 and has actively engaged in the activities of the WWC including the process of World Water Forum. Considering the activities done in collaboration with the WWC by the Korean government including those of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MoLIT), it has been an intensive period of strengthening our partnership between the Korean government and the WWC particularly for the past ten years since after the decision was made that Korea becomes the host country of the 7th World Water Forum. The Korean government (MoLIT, the representative ministry then) served two terms as the WWC board of governor in 2009 and 2012. For 6 years, over 60 Korean organizations including government agencies, local authorities, civil societies, and industry players are members of the World Water Council. In the process of hosting the World Water Forum and its preparation period, Korean government had a strong commitment and solid partnership with the World Water Council and the MoE was the one of the representative public channel in planning and operating the programs of the 7th World Water Forum in 2015. The WWC and MoE made historical success during the preparation process of the Forum by mobilizing a number of global water stakeholders and developing action-based results together such as Implementation Road Maps (IRs) and Action Monitoring System (AMS). Since after the 7th World Water Forum, the Korean government and WWC co- hosted the review meeting for tracking the IRs and collected ideas and up-to-date information on the different primary water agenda from more than 30 organizations across the world. It was the representative follow- up action made by the Forum participants and the host country in collaboration with the WWC for 2 years after the previous Forum process. The MoE, representing Korean government, has made its efforts to follow up the values and results of the 7th World Water Forum and to bridge the previous and next World Water Forum by designing various approaches. In order to make tangible outcomes of follow up actions and deliver the core value, ‘Implementation’, Korea has hosted the Korea International Water Week, the annual gathering of water stakeholders, since 2016. During the week, we have several programs co-designed by the MoE and WWC such as World Water Partnership. MoE’s activities will be planned aligning with the contribution to achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly for water related goals, with the WWC based on the shared value and further cooperation.
For what reasons do you wish your organisation to have a seat on the Board of Governors ? In order to achieve a common goal of sustainable use and conservation of water, the leadership and role of the International organizations like the World Water Council are the core essence in the process of encouraging voluntary participation of governments and strengthening cooperation. The Ministry of Environment (MoE) of Republic of Korea has a strong will to become a WWC’s board of governor organization aiming at making a contribution to provide solutions to imminent global water challenges. MoE has initiated various follow up actions of the 7th World Water Forum in collaboration with the WWC. The representative activity is hosting the Korea International Water Week(KIWW), the annual gathering of global water related multi-stakeholders. In the KIWW, we have continuously catalyzed ‘implementation’ of solutions, the core value of the 7th Forum. In order to realize the plans, the action based programs such as Water Business Forum that facilitate public and private partnership for potential or existing opportunities in research or business have been planned and organized. We also have managed the global water research and education in collaboration with the International Organization such as UNESCO. We have made our utmost efforts and diversified activities in developing projects outside of Korea through the Official Development Assistance by building a true global partnership. Moreover, MoE has designed and developed the concept of the World Water Partnership, the annual dialogues between previous and next World Water Forum host countries, with the World Water Council. It is also a part of our efforts to deliver the core value of 'Implementation' and link between each edition of the World Water Forum. Throughout the process, MoE has accrued its knowledge and experiences to become a responsible actor in the international water community. Water Management has always been Korea’s top priority in state affairs. Throughout several decades of dynamic and rapid development in the economy and technology, Korea has accumulated a wealth of experiences and capacity in water resources management, which leveraged Korea’s leadership in the global efforts to solve global water problems. MoE, on behalf of Korean government has a strong will to be engaged in knowledge-sharing and technology transfer, education and training, and capacity –building. In particular, based on the experiences and know-how earned from hosting the World Water Forum and preparing it with global partners, MoE has a confidence to contribute to the activities of the World Water Council and its partner organizations as well as the next World Water Forum preparation. MoE will actively participate in the WWC activities and be the one leading and supporting the initiative of the WWC that will eventually provide tangible solutions to global water challenges.