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| A bike rider crosses a road amid dense fine dust in Gwangju, Monday. / Yonhap |
By Kang Seung-woo
Korea's once-promising bicycle industry is struggling as deteriorating air quality, a lack of public recognition of bicycles and infrastructure are dissuading people from choosing to ride bikes.
The nation's top two leading bicycle companies Samchuly and Alton Sports saw their financial results for 2017 go farther south compared to the previous year.
Samchuly reported sales of 111.1 billion won ($104 million) and an operating profit of 250 million won, down 22 percent and 96 percent year-on-year, respectively. Alton, which has been in the red since 2015, posted an operating loss of 13.2 billion won on revenue of 43.4 billion won
Fine dust, emerging as a serious environmental issue in Korea, is deterring people from purchasing bicycles.
Korea has been grappling with worsening air quality every year, as clouds of fine dust particles cover the sky with a yellow haze. Fine dust _ particles smaller than 10 micrometers _ can cause various respiratory ailments and undermine the body's immune system.
"I had considered buying a bike for commuting, but I recently gave up on the plan out of concern for the record-high fine dust," said Jin Eui-chul, who works for a hospital near his house in Daegu.
The poor air quality is also making bike riders mull stopping riding.
"I had often ridden a bicycle for leisure, but now I have stopped due to the fine dust," said weekend cyclist Chung Ki-baek.
The failure of bicycles to gain recognition as transportation is another stumbling block to the industry's growth.
"A lot of Koreans tend to think that a bicycle is for leisure, not for transportation," said an official of the bike industry.
"When bicycles become one of the main means of public transport, demand is expected to increase."
According to government data, bicycles currently account for less than 3 percent among various means of transportation _ a sharp contrast to Japan's 15 percent in 2010.
Many believe that the nation's poor infrastructure for bicycles does not attract new cyclists.
Although local governments have installed bike lanes to encourage cycling as a method of eco-friendly transportation, many of them, drawn right next to roadways with no protection from traffic, are still regarded as being dangerous to use.
Worse, the bike lanes are often misused by drivers as free parking spaces, forcing bikers to ride on sidewalks.
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