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| The Government Complex Seoul began operating an odd-even license number, driving rotation, Monday, as part of emergency measures ordered by the local metropolitan government to combat high levels of fine dust. / Korea Times file |
By Kim Jae-heun
A high concentration of fine dust arrived in central and northern parts of the country including Seoul Sunday, raising concerns that extreme air pollution has arrived before winter.
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) and the Korea Environment Corp. forecasting center, the fine dust concentration that hit high levels Monday, will climb higher Tuesday.
They attributed the air pollution in Gyeonggi and Chungcheong provinces to smog that blew in from China and the stagnant air flow over the Korean Peninsula. The KMA said yellow dust from southern Mongolia and northern China is also likely to affect Korea Tuesday in the season's first wave of yellow dust.
The last time Seoul had a fine dust level of "bad" was July 18. The capital has since seen clear skies with fresh air during the summer and into the early autumn.
The peninsula usually faces severe air pollution between October and May the following year.
The National Institute of Environmental Research said there are various factors contributing to the high concentrations during that eight-month period.
From the end of October to early November, a massive amount of air pollution comes from China due to the incineration of farming waste there. During the winter, the high demand for heating also contributes to the ultrafine dust concentration.
As the dust level is expected to rise, local governments in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province have launched countermeasures.
Under the measures, civil servants and workers at public firms in metropolitan areas are forced to drive their cars based on whether their license plates end with odd or even numbers. Builders are also ordered to take measures to prevent dust at construction sites, while the local governments have deployed more than 700 vehicles to clean roads.
In May, the government designated fine dust as a "disaster." According to guidelines announced earlier this month in line with the designation, when the level of fine dust is "serious," all private vehicles will have to follow the odd-even number system, and schools and daycare centers will be ordered to close. The central government can also consider designating temporary holidays.
