[Photo] Environmental activists hold unannounced protest in front of National Assembly to denounce superficial carbon-neutrality plan

An environmental activist secures herself to the gate of the National Assembly using a bicycle lock to protest the government’s inadequate climate change measures on Nov. 19. (photos by Kim Bong-gyu)

Environmentalist activists held an unannounced protest in front of the National Assembly on Nov. 19 to protest the government’s inadequate measures to fight climate change and wean the country off coal-fired power plants. The demonstrators went so far as to fasten their necks to the National Assembly’s main gate using bicycle locks to make it difficult for police to escort them away. The protesters demanded more concrete anti-coal measures, claiming that the government’s recent pledge to go carbon-neutral by 2050 is nothing more than a superficial statement.

By Kim Bong-gyu, staff photographer

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An environmental activist is escorted by the police away from the National Assembly on Nov. 19.