enting the recommendations for future action in the area of environmental protection. This chapter, thus, presents an evaluation of the study findings, and suggests actions to enhance environmental protection in the future.
Lastly, a clarification is required with respect to the analyses in this study involving Korea. Korea, as the term is used in this study, refers to the Republic of Korea, which is commonly known as South Korea. No consideration is given in this study to the environmental protection policies and their application of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea.
This chapter provides an historical overview of the development of environmental awareness among the peoples of the world. An historical context is established within which environmental awareness has developed, and selected recent examples of environmental degradation that have heightened environmental awareness are discussed.
The Historical Context Within Which Environmental Awareness Has Developed
With respect to a concern for the environment, it is probably fair to state that most people think that environmental awareness is a relatively recent phenomenon, dating at most back to the first Earth Day in 1970 (DiSilvestro, 1990, p. 5). Among Americans, it is also probably fair to state that most of them think that a concern for the environment is an American phenomenon (Vig and Kraft, 1990, pp. 9 11). While it is true that environmental protection actions have become more numerous and more effective in recent decades, it is not true that concerns for the protection of the environment did not exist far earlier. It is also true that effective environmental clean up and protection actions were effected in countries such the United Kingdom well before most of the body of environmental law now existing in the United States was enacted. Environmental degradation in the United States, however, does have a long history....