- On June 9, the Equinor team organized a plogging event at Ilsan Beach in Ulsan, to help clean up the beach before its long-awaited opening on July 15, after having been closed since 2020.
“The beach has been closed for several years now – of course we will help.”
This is what Equinor Korea CEO Jacques Etienne Michel said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead while cleaning up the beach.
1km north of Bangeojin, Ulsan, Ilsan Beach stretches for 850m, creating a beautiful scenery with its fine-grained sand, East Sea views, and Daewangam Park next door. The Suspension Bridge in Daewangam Park alone has had 1.5 million visitors since its opening in July 2021, with beautiful views of the whole Ilsan Beach from the bridge.
On June 9, the Equinor Korea team were busy all afternoon. They arrived to Ilsan Beach straight from the Firefly Floating Offshore Wind Farm South Korea Supplier Day event, to give back to the local community with some plogging.
Ilsan Beach is scheduled to open on July 15. It has been closed since 2020 due to COVID-19. As social distancing is no longer an issue, it is expected to have more Ulsan citizens and tourists visit this year than in any other year, therefore the Equinor staff did their best to clean the area.
Plogging is a compound word of jogging and ‘Plocka upp’, a Swedish word meaning ‘to clean’. The word refers to an activity of picking up trash while jogging. The concept is gaining popularity around the world, as it both protects the environment and is good for your health. Equinor visited Ilsan Beach to participate in this campaign, not only to preserve the sea resources, but to also help nearby businesses.
Equinor Korea Project Administrator Huiyoung Park was born and raised in Ulsan. “Ilsan Beach is more familiar to Ulsan residents as Ilsanji. It’s a favorite place for many Ulsan citizens, frequently visited with friends and family.”
She also added that the beach holds a festival every end of July, and that the beach is becoming a popular attraction in Ulsan. Manager Park said this is why plogging is particularly rewarding for her.
“Having Ilsan Beach in the center of Korea’s export industry and natural wind resources is like a gift, and as a company that wants to develop wind farms offshore Ulsan, I think it was great to be able to contribute in a positive way to the community in this way,” said Jacques-Etienne Michel. “The sea breeze that cooled our sweat today is also what we want to harness through offshore wind farms, to help Ulsan become a world-class clean energy city.”
