The National Election Commission (NEC) of the Republic of Korea announced that it will abolish the promotional activities using street banners to cope with environmental issues in a positive and preemptive manner starting from the second half of the year 2021.

The criticism has been steadily raised that banners, a main promotional means, are hard to recycle, and cause environmental pollution by generating harmful substances upon disposal, and so on.

Therefore, the NEC will stop putting up the banners (19,500 pieces of 16 types as of the year 2020) that are designed to use for the general policy promotion from the second half of this year.

However, the banners that are absolutely necessary to help voters exercise their right to vote including guide information for polling stations will remain.

In addition, in order to avoid the blind spot of information caused by discontinuation of promotion through the banners, the NEC plans to positively ensure the “right to know” of voters through the various methods including the use of electric signboards, recyclable printed matters, and social media, etc.

The NEC said that it will continuously pay attention to environmental issues as a national organisation in the future, hoping that this policy helps keeping our Earth sustainable however little it may be.