A 24-year-old student from South Korea was crowned Miss Earth 2022 during a competition held at Okada Manila in Paranaque City Tuesday night, beating 85 other contestants in the environment-driven pageant.
Crowd favorite Mina Sue Choi, a communications student, is the first Korean to win Miss Earth since the beauty pageant started in 2001.
Choi promotes the reduction of carbon footprints in cities with sustainable mobility and encouraging lifestyles that will help reduce carbon emission in our daily lives.
During the final question-and-answer, Choi and the three other contestants were asked the same question: "What is one thing that you want to correct in this world and how would you correct it?"
Choi answered: "If there’s something I would correct in this world it would be being empathetic. We often mistake kindness as being empathetic but what being empathetic is putting yourself into someone else’s shoes and when it comes to climate issues and other issues in this world one has to be empathetic. You really need to see how the other person perceives this world, you need to understand their pain by being in their shoes and that, like I feel like the first with being empathetic, kindness and empathetic can be different."
Other winners were: Miss Australia Sheridan Mortlock, Miss Earth Air 2022; Miss Palestine Nadeen Ayoub, Miss Earth Water 2022; and Miss Colombia, Andrea Aguilera, Miss Earth Fire 2022.
Miss Philippines Jenny Ramp finished in the top 20 of the competition. Other candidates in the semis were delegates from Belgium, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Cuba, Nigeria, Portugal, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Ireland, Namibia, Norway, Slovenia and Vietnam.
Asked what makes her proud of her country, Choi said: "Korea has many wonderful things from history to current cultural wave, but I must say the one thing I am most proud of is the people of Korea. In the past and present day, Koreans have always been challengers and hard workers. We always challenge ourselves, sometimes critique ourselves, but to always better ourselves. I love that people of our country are proud to be Korean wherever we are. I am thrilled to live in the moments where everyone will recognize our people, our culture, and our country, Korea."
Choi also shared tips on how to promote ecotourism and climate change.
"In order to promote ecotourism, it is crucial that we continuously think about the objective of traveling to a new place. Personally, I love to challenge my comfort zone and attempt to live the experiences of the local life. Learning how different people live and thrive in cultures and spaces that I am not familiar with is probably the best part of traveling.
"Having that conscious understanding may just be the way to respect nature and the people of the local. Rich experiences do not require rich expenses, the experiences can be made by using our travel budgets more wisely: purchasing local goods, supporting local businesses, opting for public transportation, bikes, and more," the Korean beauty queen said.
Choi also shared her childhood years, saying she grew up in many places.
"To most people in the world, the question “So, where are you from?” is straightforward. Depending on who is asking, they would name their home town, province, or country.
"For me, however, this conversational item requires a bit more thought because my itinerant upbringing has allowed me to put down roots in so many different places. Although I was born in Sydney, Australia and lived in the heart of the city until I was 7 years old, I do not have a discernible Aussie accent.
"From 7 until I was 11 years old, there was a sudden shift in my life. I began to attend public Korean schools in Korea where I faced many challenges blending in with my peers as a semi-bilingual. After attending for 4 years or so, I began to adapt and was seen as any other Korean primary school student.
"Then, another great shift occurred in my life: my departure to Vancouver, Canada. From here on, my entire childhood consists of memories of me living in Canada, the United States, China, and back to Korea.
This pattern of residing in unfamiliar places, adapting, then finding yet another new place has impacted me as a person today and most likely will impact the future versions of myself as a global woman of this era," Choi also added.