Over two days, about 40 volunteers participated and collected 620 litres of marine debris, comprised of seaweed and various household waste, for a cleaner East Sea.

As the area is known as a surfing mecca, visitors and local citizens were educated on the environmental harm caused by marine waste and biodegradable waste bags were given away and information related to waste separation was also distributed.

In response, tourist Jeong-hwa Kim (70, female, Seoul) said, “It was a good experience, and they also gave me biodegradable litter bags which I will have to take with me all the way to Seoul.”

Chan-yong Park, head of the East Sea branch, said, “We plan to continue to actively carry out environmental clean-up campaigns and strive to create a clean tourist destination.”

Meanwhile, the 'Patting the Sea' initiative is part of the 'Green Nature' programme, which strives to pass on a beautiful environment as a legacy to posterity through wetland conservation activities, environmental clean-ups to protect major facilities and cultural assets, environmental recovery, environmental protection public interest campaigns, and the creation of flower paths in illegal waste dumping areas. This is a regular volunteer activity conducted by Shincheonji Volunteer Group throughout South Korea.