Six South Korean farmers have announced plans to sue the country’s state-owned utility company, arguing that its burning of fossil fuels has contributed to climate change and damaged their crops.
The farmers are seeking compensation from the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) for the economic and emotional damages they have suffered from extreme weather driven by climate change.
On Tuesday, they held a press conference in Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, displaying placards with slogans such as “The Last Fruit Shop”, “a pear-less nation” and “soft peaches, firm peaches – in the future, NO peaches”.
Rice farmer Seong-yeol Hwang told journalists: “I’ve poured my heart into growing rice but this year’s heavy rains flooded my fields.”
“Why is it always powerless farmers like us who suffer, while KEPCO and its subsidiaries – who are fuelling the climate crisis – take no responsibility and neglect the urgent need to address climate change?” he asked.
Apple farmer Yong-un Ma added that his fruit are blooming earlier in April each year. “If a sudden cold snap hits, the flowers freeze or grow into deformed fruit. We’ve had poor harvests because of this, and in 2023, apple prices skyrocketed nationwide due to widespread crop failure,” he explained.
The farmers’ lead lawyer Yeny Kim said that, according to government projections, crops like apples and peaches will no longer be cultivable in her clients’ home regions. “The plaintiffs continue to farm under deep uncertainty, enduring reduced yields, lower quality, and additional costs for climate adaptation,” she said.
Economic and emotional damage
The farmers are demanding five million Korean won ($3,597) each from KEPCO for economic damages, a figure that is expected to increase as the case develops.
They are also seeking a symbolic payment of 2,035 won ($1.46) for emotional damages, with the 2,035 figure chosen as a reference to the year 2035 when the farmers think the government needs to phase out coal, five years ahead of its existing target.
KEPCO and its subsidiaries were responsible for about a quarter of South Korea’s emissions between 2011 and 2022, according to analysis by the NGO Solutions For Our Climate, making it the country’s single largest corporate contributor to the country’s climate-heating pollution.
The analysis also found that KEPCO accounted for roughly 0.39% of the world’s emissions during this period, with lawyer Kim arguing that it should bear responsibility for at least this percentage of global climate damages.
Between 2000 and 2025, only China, India and Indonesia opened more coal-fired power capacity than South Korea, according to Global Energy Monitor data, with KEPCO now operating more coal power capacity than all but 11 other companies worldwide. KEPCO also operates nuclear and gas-fired power stations and produces a much smaller amount of electricity from renewables.
Rising wave of climate lawsuits
This South Korean case builds on a rising wave of climate-related cases around the world. In one groundbreaking lawsuit, a Peruvian farmer sued German utility RWE, alleging its coal emissions contributed to worsening glacier melt and flood risk in his Andean home region.
While a German court ruled in May that the risk of flooding to this farmer’s house was not significant enough to take the case further, it recognised that companies could be pursued for the global effects of their greenhouse gas emissions.
The International Court of Justice has also recently advised that governments have a duty to prevent climate pollution, and can be sued if they do not fulfill it, including for reparation and compensation.
Referencing this case at the press conference in Seoul, Kim said KEPCO is a state-owned enterprise “with both the capacity and mandate to act” and argued it had “failed to fulfill [its] public and legal duties” to respond to climate change.
In August 2024, South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled that the government’s climate law was unconstitutional for failing to protect future generations.
Solutions For Our Climate, which is supporting the case, said the farmers hope their lawsuit will not only bring redress for current damages but also shift the legal landscape in favour of stronger climate governance and corporate accountability.
Speaking in Seoul, Hwang said he used to believe that natural disasters were beyond human control but, having learned they are being driven by the climate crisis, he “couldn’t help but feel outraged”.
“We are filing this lawsuit to demand that these power companies – which continue to recklessly emit greenhouse gases without taking any responsibility – compensate the farmers who are suffering the consequences,” he said.
“If someone has to start this fight, I’ll begin it myself,” he added. “I’ll keep walking forward to hold them accountable to the end.”
