NASA D-8 This photo, taken on Feb. 18, 2024, shows the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) DC-8, stationed in Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul, for a joint investigation on air quality in the Asian region. (Yonhap)
Haze hits SeoulThis photo, taken from Mount Inwang in Seoul on Dec. 27, 2022, shows the capital’s downtown area blanketed in haze, as the atmospheric levels of PM2.5, harmful particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter, are forecast to remain “bad” in most areas of the country. (Yonhap)
I am not against the upcoming ban, but I don’t think it is going to do much to clean up air pollution when so much of it is rolling in over Korea from China and their government doesn’t care:
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announces Clearer Seoul 2030, a comprehensive plan to improve the city’s air quality, at Seoul City Hall on Wednesday. [NEWS1]
Grade 4 diesel vehicles, the second-lowest in the country’s five-tier emissions standard, will be banned from Seoul’s central areas starting 2025.
In addition, village buses, delivery motorbikes and trucks will all go electric by 2026.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon unveiled a comprehensive plan to improve air quality of his megacity dubbed Clearer Seoul 2030 on Wednesday. It’s a major part of the Korean capital’s ambition to be one of the top 10 greenest cities in the world.
A man looks at the sky of Seoul thick with yellow dust from an observatory of Mount Inwang on March 29, 2021. (Yonhap)
An extraordinarily strong yellow dust storm originating from the inland deserts in northern China and Mongolia blanketed all of South Korea on Monday, prompting authorities to issue a yellow dust warning for Seoul and almost all parts of the country for the first time in a decade.
The density of fine dust particles smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter, known as PM 10, soared to 1,174 micrograms per cubic meter in Daegu on Monday morning, the worst level since Nov. 12, 2010, when the corresponding figure reached 1,047 micrograms in the southeastern city.
Haze hits SeoulThis photo taken on Dec. 10, 2019, shows haze blurring the sky over downtown Seoul, as the density of harmful particles increased in the South Korean capital and other cities. The government implemented emergency measures against air pollutants for the day for the first time this winter. (Yonhap)
This number is actually down sharply because this same institute had previously said China was responsible for about 70% of the pollution in South Korea. This makes me wonder if the ROK government is trying to down play China pollution in order to justify more stringent domestic anti-pollution measures?:
Around 32 percent of ultrafine dust in South Korea can be attributed to China, a piece of joint research by South Korea, China and Japan showed Wednesday, as fine dust pollution continues to be a regional environmental headache.
An average of 51.2 percent of ultrafine dust in South Korea comes from domestic factors and 32.1 percent and 2 percent, respectively, stem from China and Japan, according to a summary of the joint study released by South Korea’s National Institute of Environmental Research.
The remaining 14.7 percent were due to other factors.
The study, the first of its kind, was conducted in major cities of the three countries, including South Korea’s Seoul, Daejeon and Busan.
You can read more at the link, but what do people think the Korean reaction would be if Japan was dumping as much air pollution over the Korean peninsula that China is?
![Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announces Clearer Seoul 2030, a comprehensive plan to improve the city's air quality, at Seoul City Hall on Wednesday. [NEWS1]](https://i0.wp.com/koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2022/09/28/60f7a965-70b0-46ee-89b4-8eb82c4098ac.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
