The so-called Environmental Doomsday Clock has been advanced to 9:51 for South Korea. The time demonstrates serious concern over the environment, with midnight signifying catastrophic destruction.

The Korea Green Foundation and Japan’s Asahi Glass Foundation jointly announced the updated time on Thursday in Seoul. The closer the clock gets to midnight, the closer a crisis threatening human survival caused by the deterioration of environmental conditions gets.

South Korea’s new time was advanced 25 minutes from last year, posting the worst figure since related surveys began in 2005.

Environmental experts cited global changes, including global warming, as the key factors that led to the aggravated figure.

Meanwhile, the world's Environmental Doomsday Clock showed a time of 9:22 compared to 9:11 last year.

The Environmental Doomsday Clock’s interval between 9:01 and midnight is regarded as a range exhibiting extreme concerns over the environment.