Govt. announces wider anti-fine dust steps

The government on Thursday announced significant expansions in the scope and targets of anti-fine dust measures amid mounting public anger over its potential health hazards.

The new plan to reduce fine dust is being taken as current measures are not sufficient to tackle the issue, as they are confined only to the metropolitan area and public sector.

Therefore, 39 private companies in such fine dust-producing industries as electric gas and steelmaking in metropolitan areas -- one in Seoul, 21 in Gyeonggi Province and 17 in Incheon -- will be subject to the new guidelines.

The plan will also be applied to 193 large factories that account for about 80 percent of total fine dust emissions in the metropolitan areas. The environment ministry will keep track of their fine dust discharges and report them to local governments for supervision.

The government also plans to expand the target areas of emergency measures from the current metropolitan area to the entire country.

The Busan city government already joined the emergency steps, including reducing the operation of vehicles at public organizations and garbage incinerators, early this month, and the Gwangju city government will soon follow suit.

The government is also mulling whether to curtail the operation of coal-fired power plants heavily discharging fine dust in addition to the five aged coal-fired plants whose operation will be suspended from March to June, as was decided upon in January.

In addition, new fine dust measures for students will be announced next month.

The free supply of masks to day care centers, kindergartens and primary and secondary schools will also be studied.

The government will bolster anti-fine dust cooperation with China, centering on the Korea-China Environment Cooperation Center to open in Beijing at the end of June, when the ministers of South Korea, China and Japan will meet there.

A report on the outcomes of fine dust surveys jointly conducted by researchers of the three nations from 2013-17 is set to be published in June.

"The government will employ all means available against high-density fine dust," Environment Minister Kim Eun-kyung said.(Yonhap)