<p class="title">A South Korean mayor who dumped a tonne of trash on a clean beach to give environmental campaigners something to pick up has said sorry for his deception.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Officials trucked in litter and waste that had already been collected from rubbish-strewn coasts and scattered it all over the pristine sand of southwest Jindo.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The following day hundreds of volunteers scoured the shores and bagged up the garbage as part of an event to mark International Coastal Cleanup Day, a global event aimed at countering the scourge of sea-borne waste.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We brought in waste styrofoam and other coastal trash gathered from nearby areas so the 600 participants could carry out clean-up activities," said Lee Dong-jin, Jindo county mayor, in a statement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">His office apologised for causing trouble and said the event was meant to "raise awareness about the seriousness of coastal waste".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Lee said all the litter had been retrieved and taken care of "100 per cent". He said none had entered the ocean and there had been "no secondary pollution".</p>.<p class="bodytext">International Coastal Cleanup Day -- which this year fell on September 21 -- is one of the largest global movements for oceanic preservation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Volunteers in around 100 countries took part this year, with beaches in Thailand, Hawaii, Israel and the Philippines also included.</p>
<p class="title">A South Korean mayor who dumped a tonne of trash on a clean beach to give environmental campaigners something to pick up has said sorry for his deception.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Officials trucked in litter and waste that had already been collected from rubbish-strewn coasts and scattered it all over the pristine sand of southwest Jindo.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The following day hundreds of volunteers scoured the shores and bagged up the garbage as part of an event to mark International Coastal Cleanup Day, a global event aimed at countering the scourge of sea-borne waste.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We brought in waste styrofoam and other coastal trash gathered from nearby areas so the 600 participants could carry out clean-up activities," said Lee Dong-jin, Jindo county mayor, in a statement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">His office apologised for causing trouble and said the event was meant to "raise awareness about the seriousness of coastal waste".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Lee said all the litter had been retrieved and taken care of "100 per cent". He said none had entered the ocean and there had been "no secondary pollution".</p>.<p class="bodytext">International Coastal Cleanup Day -- which this year fell on September 21 -- is one of the largest global movements for oceanic preservation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Volunteers in around 100 countries took part this year, with beaches in Thailand, Hawaii, Israel and the Philippines also included.</p>