A new year of hope for Kiribati

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A new year of hope for Kiribati

Published: 05 Jan. 2026, 00:05

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Kim Bong-ryeol

The author is an architect and a former president of the Korea National University of Arts.

The first country in the world to welcome the new year is Kiribati, an island nation scattered across the South Pacific. To eliminate the inconvenience of having its territory divided by the International Date Line, the country shifted the line some 2,700 kilometers (1,678 miles) eastward. Its national flag, adopted at independence in 1979, depicts a rising sun over ocean waves and a frigatebird soaring far from land, symbols of hope and distance.

Onotoa Atoll of the Republic of Kiribati, seen from the air [WIKIPEDIA]

Yet behind that hopeful imagery lies an existential crisis. Kiribati faces the prospect of disappearance as rising sea levels steadily engulf its land. Of the country’s 17 islands, 16 are coral atolls with an average elevation of just two meters above sea level. At the current pace of climate change, scientists predict that they could be fully submerged by 2050. Coastal villages are already eroding, farmland has been ruined by salt intrusion and freshwater supplies have been contaminated.

With a population of about 120,000 and a per capita GDP of roughly $2,000, Kiribati is a small and resource-poor nation. Still, it has made efforts to adapt, building seawalls and relocating some communities to higher ground. These measures, however, have proven insufficient in the face of sweeping environmental change. As a result, the government has adopted a policy of “migration with dignity.”

Kiribati has signed migration arrangements with Australia and secured state-owned farmland in Fiji. It is also working to establish a migration trust fund using revenue from its vast exclusive economic zone, one of the largest in the world. Even so, many citizens remain reluctant to leave, insisting that relocation is not a true solution.

In 2020, the Young Architects Competition organized an international design contest focused on Kiribati, inviting ideas to sustain island communities despite flooding. A young Korean team that placed second proposed stilted housing built over the sea. The first-prize design was more practical, envisioning small floating pentagonal units that could be clustered together. Some units would serve as homes, while others would serve as gardens or fishing facilities, allowing for flexible and potentially limitless combinations.

The national flag of the Republic of Kiribati. [WIKIPEDIA]

Ultimately, the only fundamental solution lies in addressing global climate change itself and halting the sea-level rise. It is a path widely acknowledged yet rarely chosen. Former President Teburoro Tito, who served as president from Oct. 1, 1994, to March 28, 2003, once lamented that island nations are like ants, while industrialized countries are elephants. As the new year begins, there is hope that the elephants will awaken and begin to shoulder their responsibility.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.