2024 Big Issues

written by 20104 Kim Soyeon, 20106 Kim Choeun,

20112 Woo Seyeon, 10210 Park Jiwoo,

10219 Lee Hyunseo & 10226 Jin Young

01. January: Noto Peninsula Earthquake

The first day of 2024 brought catastrophe to Japan. A magnitude-7.6 earthquake struck the isolated Noto peninsula in western Japan. It was the strongest earthquake since the 2011 Tohoku earthquake.

02. February: Death of Alexei Navalny

On February 16, Alexei Navalny, who was the opposition leader in Russia, died suddenly in an Arctic Penal Colony. Post-election, President Putin uttered Navalny’s name for the first time, claiming he would have agreed to release him in a prisoner swap.

03. March: Haitian Jailbreak

On March 3, the Haitian government declared a 72-hour state of emergency. This was after two armed gangs stormed the prisons and released thousands of prisoners. The gangs were protesting the lack of elections after the appointment of the unelected acting PM Ariel Henry back in 2021.

04. April: Fu Bao Returns to China

Fu Bao, the first giant panda born in South Korea, returned to China on April 3. Before he was officially returned, people gathered in Everland, where he was, to say a final goodbye and wish him good luck.

05. May: Pattaya Tourist Murder

On May 12, a corpse was found at the reservoir in Pattaya, Thailand. The victim was a Korean, and the murderers were also Koreans. They killed him because they wanted to get his money.

06. June: European Election

The 10th European Parliament Election was held from June 6 to 9. It was the first election since Brexit in 2020. 720 members were directly elected from 27 member states to lead the European Union for the next five years.

07. July: Paris Olympics

Paris held the 33rd Summer Olympics from July 26 to August 11. With 204 nations participating, 32 sports were played by 10,714 athletes. Also, the Paris Olympics was the first Olympics to reach full gender parity.

08. August: Pavel Durov Arrested

Pavel Durov, the CEO of Telegram, was arrested on August 24 as he arrived at Le Bourget Airport. He was charged with child sexual exploitation and drug trafficking. Charges also included failing to curb extremist and terrorist content.

09. September: 79th UN General Assembly

The 79th UN General Assembly was held at the United Nations in New York from September 10 to 30. The topic was “Leaving no one behind: acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations.”

10. October: Returned Masterpiece

During World War II, the Nazis plundered hundreds of thousands of artworks, including a painting of the Normandy coast by Claude Monet. About eight decades later, on October 9, it was returned to the granddaughters of the original owner.