Korea calls for China to help combat fine dust

By Lee Kyung-min

The government has asked China, from which almost half of fine dust in Korea originates, to do more to combat air pollution, which has been posing a greater threat to people here over the past few years. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday that officials from Seoul and Beijing met in Jinan, China, Thursday to discuss co-operation on environmental issues. Led by Kwon Sei-joong, director general for climate change, energy and environmental affairs and his Chinese counterpart Guo Jing, the talks were about cooperative measures that would serve the interests of both countries, including tackling “yellow dust,” air and water pollution. They also reviewed each other’s latest environmental policy initiatives.

“The two countries had a mutual understanding that environmental issues increasingly concern the public in both countries,” a ministry official said.“Rather than blaming each other, joint efforts should continue to resolve this issue in a sustainable manner.”

The high-level talks came amid mounting calls from Koreans to “confront” China about the deteriorating air quality. A joint monitoring project with the Ministry of Environment and NASA concluded that about a third of the fine dust in Korea originates from China. But critics say the figure is understated, and that the amount would be more if monitoring was conducted in winter or early spring when fine dust levels spike.

While the Ministry of Environment and the Seoul Metropolitan Government continue to limit the number of diesel-run vehicles, people here claim the problem will not be fundamentally resolved unless “the largest culprit” actively controls local polluters. Criticism is brewing over the Seoul government’s move to ban old cargo trucks from Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province starting in April unless they have exhaust-reducing air-treatment systems. Second-time violators will be fined 200,000 won ($177), a large amount for low-income truck drivers.

Meanwhile, according to the ministry, China said PM2.5 fine dust levels in Beijing fell from 90 milligrams per cubic meter to 58 milligrams last year, below the 60 milligrams originally sought. It said this significant progress was a result of an aggressive crackdown on local polluters. China said it was continuing to prioritize environmental protection over other policies this year with various action plans to achieve its goals.

The two sides also shared the need to establish a bilateral cooperative body through which environmental issues will be deliberated, in line with an agreement reached during President Moon Jae-in’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping last December. The countries will also continue to review and monitor industrial, hazardous wastes being discarded into the ocean, a project the Korean government has suggested. Efforts will continue to manage and improve exchanges in environment-related sectors including data sharing on air, water, soil and marine pollutants as well as joint research on identifying their sources.

According to the Air Quality Forecasting Center under the National Institute of Environmental Research, an environment ministry-supervised institution, fine dust levels will rise over the weekend.