Trans-border problem needs trans-border cooperation
A thick layer of toxic haze, caused mainly by Chinese smog, has been blanketing the Korean Peninsula for a week. Hospitals report a 20-30 percent increase in outpatients complaining about bronchitis and sore eyes, while pharmacies were sold out of dust masks.
The National Institute of Environmental Research says the concentration of particulate matter measuring 10 micrometers, called PM-10, soared up to 200 micrograms per cubic meter in Seoul Thursday, forcing the metropolitan government to issue its fourth consecutive warning, for the first time.
Doctors say this is the level deemed "risky for the old and weak," and anything above that could be hazardous for all who venture outdoors for long. In short, the situation is just a little short of a natural disaster.
Even more annoying than the physical harm is a sense of frustration among Koreans that there is not much they can do to reduce the damage. The environmental burdens are too heavy for them to accept as their fate for living next to China, or the energy "black hole" as experts put it, which consumes nearly half of coal produced in the world. Something must be done, and very quickly.
Of course, there is fundamental limitation to curbing China's air pollution unless the growth rate of the world's second-largest economy falls to half the present level, from 8 to 4 percent. But that would mean this country, which heavily relies on export to China, will see its own growth rate also drop 1.6 percentage points every year. Nor does Beijing just sit and watch, as the Chinese themselves are the biggest victims of the pollution which has reached an unbearable level.
Government officials say China invests much more than Korea does in shifting to clean, renewable energy, such as solar and wind. Environment Minister Yoon Sung-kyu says the world's largest emitter of carbon and other polluting materials is also ahead of its smaller neighbors, Korea, and even Japan, in forecasting smog attacks. So the first step should be China's provision of relevant data, more swiftly and "honestly."
It was good in this regard to hear that China and Korea recently agreed to jointly develop a better forecast model.
It would be better still if the two countries extend their bilateral cooperation to Japan to form a trilateral front against their common adversary. The three Northeast Asian countries are now engaged in unprecedented disputes over territorial and historical issues. So it would be the only silver lining of the polluting cloud if the regional environmental problem could serve as a catalyst for trans-border cooperation among the three nations.
Korea, the smallest of the three countries sandwiched between the double trouble of environmental harms ― smog from left and radiation from right ― needs to take the initiative in forging such triangular cooperation.
Diplomacy may not be the only thing Seoul should mind to help ease the damage. The government needs to beef up related manpower, resume campaigns to reduce cars on the road, some 80 percent of which are drive-alone vehicles, and supply better and cheaper face masks.
It should not take another decade or so before people in this part of the world can breathe a little easier.
A thick layer of toxic haze, caused mainly by Chinese smog, has been blanketing the Korean Peninsula for a week. Hospitals report a 20-30 percent increase in outpatients complaining about bronchitis and sore eyes, while pharmacies were sold out of dust masks.
The National Institute of Environmental Research says the concentration of particulate matter measuring 10 micrometers, called PM-10, soared up to 200 micrograms per cubic meter in Seoul Thursday, forcing the metropolitan government to issue its fourth consecutive warning, for the first time.
Doctors say this is the level deemed "risky for the old and weak," and anything above that could be hazardous for all who venture outdoors for long. In short, the situation is just a little short of a natural disaster.
Even more annoying than the physical harm is a sense of frustration among Koreans that there is not much they can do to reduce the damage. The environmental burdens are too heavy for them to accept as their fate for living next to China, or the energy "black hole" as experts put it, which consumes nearly half of coal produced in the world. Something must be done, and very quickly.
Of course, there is fundamental limitation to curbing China's air pollution unless the growth rate of the world's second-largest economy falls to half the present level, from 8 to 4 percent. But that would mean this country, which heavily relies on export to China, will see its own growth rate also drop 1.6 percentage points every year. Nor does Beijing just sit and watch, as the Chinese themselves are the biggest victims of the pollution which has reached an unbearable level.
Government officials say China invests much more than Korea does in shifting to clean, renewable energy, such as solar and wind. Environment Minister Yoon Sung-kyu says the world's largest emitter of carbon and other polluting materials is also ahead of its smaller neighbors, Korea, and even Japan, in forecasting smog attacks. So the first step should be China's provision of relevant data, more swiftly and "honestly."
It was good in this regard to hear that China and Korea recently agreed to jointly develop a better forecast model.
It would be better still if the two countries extend their bilateral cooperation to Japan to form a trilateral front against their common adversary. The three Northeast Asian countries are now engaged in unprecedented disputes over territorial and historical issues. So it would be the only silver lining of the polluting cloud if the regional environmental problem could serve as a catalyst for trans-border cooperation among the three nations.
Korea, the smallest of the three countries sandwiched between the double trouble of environmental harms ― smog from left and radiation from right ― needs to take the initiative in forging such triangular cooperation.
Diplomacy may not be the only thing Seoul should mind to help ease the damage. The government needs to beef up related manpower, resume campaigns to reduce cars on the road, some 80 percent of which are drive-alone vehicles, and supply better and cheaper face masks.
It should not take another decade or so before people in this part of the world can breathe a little easier.
![[ANALYSIS] Tesla, BYD's price cuts unnerve LGES, Samsung, SK](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/b1cf8ba68d474cb69352bfe7ea9d14f0.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] How ATEEZ achieved worldwide success](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/c7723b56dde94eb4b260950d368fe8fb.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
