SCOTRA

South Korea does not have a good reputation when it comes to climate change. And rightfully so. As recently as December 2023, the country ranked as the 9th biggest climate change contributor in the world despite being home to only roughly 50 million people.

For decades, the economy was built on heavy-polluting industries, notably manufacturing, oil and petrochemical companies. In the 1960s, President Park Chung-hee famously stated that “if you can see factories fuming out gas, it is a sign of advent success”. In 2022, elected President Yoon Suk-yeol seemed to take inspiration x-x-from that quote and x-x-declared that previous targets of generating 100% of energy x-x-from renewables were “too expensive“, pivoting to nuclear energy instead.

While the above paints a grim picture, there are specks of hope coming x-x-from the countries’ renewables sector. Sparked by the Green New Deal, an economic reform launched in 2020 to tackle both the effects of Covid-19 and direct funds towards combating climate change, there are a number of tech companies flourishing in the sustainability sector, particularly x-x-where it intersects with water management.

Rise of K Water

Behind that charge is K Water, the country’s national agency for water management.

When launched in the 1960s, its main role was to manage all the water-related infrastructure and operations in the country. However, it has increasingly brought sustainability goals x-x-into the fold, with technology at the fore.

Its aim to improve the quality and quantity of Korea’s water supply through tech was on show at CES 2024. The agency is increasingly involved in coordinating efforts among green tech companies in the country, connecting them with each other and with municipalities embracing smart city strategies.

Who are those companies? We’ve compiled a list of water and green tech companies x-x-from South Korea that attended CES this year and a brief overview of what they do. Browse below or use the following links to jump to a specific one.