[Weekender] Hazy future of South Korean skies

South Korea is more shrouded in dust than ever.

In three months this year, the country has seen 85 ultrafine dust advisories issued, more than double in the same period last year, which had 41.

With ominously gray skies, low visibility and warnings about the health effects of airborne dust, South Koreans have become increasingly anxious.

This has given rise to a breed of citizens raging their own battles against air pollution -- checking air quality with personal devices, staying indoors where air purifiers are never off-duty and stocking up on masks in case they have to step outside.

Lee Jung-mi, a mother of two daughters, is among them.

She begins her day by checking the air outside with a dust-measuring device, uses two air purifiers at home and grows plants with proven air cleansing properties.

“I purchased the particulate monitoring device to know the exact concentration level of harmful particles in the area I live,” said Lee.

As a member of an online community of about 44,000, she also shares information and useful tips on fighting fine dust.

Information shared there include do-it-yourself guides on how to improvise air cleaners with ordinary fans and ultrafine dust filters, or to build cut-and-fit window filters.

Lee has followed many of the tips, but feels it’s not enough.

“I do as much as I can at home, but when my kids are at school, there’s nothing I can do. Windows are open, even when the dust level is high, and there is no air purifier in the classroom. Not many teachers pay attention to air quality,” she said.

Her online community on Korea’s largest web portal Naver has organized three street rallies so far to urge immediate action from authorities and raise public awareness.

“We cannot trust the government on the fine dust issue anymore. We need to start acting on our own to return blue skies and clean air to our children,” read one post.
 

Many believe that while South Korea has had its own air problem, the recent sharp deterioration is mainly due to China, the world’s biggest polluter.

This belief has led to the first civil lawsuit filed by South Korean citizens against the governments of both Korea and China.

Choi Yul, an environmental activist and president of the Korea Green Foundation, and attorney Ahn Kyung-jae filed the suit Wednesday with the Seoul Central District Court, seeking 3 million won ($2,650) each in compensation.

The data on how much of the airborne pollutants in Korea are from China is not seen as reliable.

The Comprehensive Plan on Fine Particulate Matter compiled by several government bodies put the figure at 30-50 percent.

Such figures are estimated based on data from Baengnyeongdo, a remote western island.

However, a report from the Munhwa Ilbo uncovered that the decimal point on the Baengnyeongdo data had been put in the wrong place over the past two years, giving much lower readings than was the case. 

Officials say they used the correct data in their calculations, and had therefore not underestimated China's influence, but are coy about releasing the data.

A study leaked from the Ministry of Environment estimated that 86 percent of ultrafine dust particles in Seoul and its surrounding cities on March 21, when the entire country was choked with high dust concentrations, was of Chinese origin.

The ministry confirmed that figure, but has been reluctant to reveal more data on the China factor, claiming a significant portion of the pollutants originate here.

While the central government has been moving slowly, some municipalities have taken action.

Based on government data that outdated diesel cars are one of the main causes of air pollution here, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is moving to ban some 1.4 million diesel cars that were registered before 2005 from its roads. 

The city also plans to spend 264 billion won to replace those diesel-power vehicles with electric cars.

“Tackling vehicle emissions is a priority if you are to tackle air pollution in your city,” said Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, at an international conference on air pollution held in London in March.

Seoul City is aiming to reduce its annual fine dust emissions to 1,071 tons by 2020, just over a quarter of the current 3,769 tons. 

Seoul’s fight against dust extends to deploying 75 dust-collecting trucks on the road, 30 of which have been newly purchased this year.

“Seoul is in the process of switching its (street) cleaning method from water washing to dust absorbing,” said a city official in charge of environmental policy, adding that such a method will further enhance efficiency of city cleaning overall.

According to the city, cleaning with a dust collector can vacuum up 98.2 percent of ultrafine particles and 98.3 percent of fine dust on the road, without having to use water at all.

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province is experimenting with rain.

While artificial rain technology is usually studied to fight drought, the provincial government is considering using it to wash away dust and clean the air.

To reduce 6 percent of fine dust particles in the air, at least 2 millimeters of precipitation is required. To reduce it by 20 percent, 6 mm of rainfall is needed, a previous study showed.

Gyeonggi Province plans to hold three rainmaking experiments this year, with a budget of approximately 25 million won ($22,000) per instance.

Incheon and western cities in Gyeonggi Province are the first to be hit by toxic air from China.

“Korea cannot root out the fine dust problem if we do not do anything to air pollutants blowing from outside of the country,” said Nam Kyung-pil, Gyeonggi Province governor.

“We will try a variety of high-tech measures to fight the fine dust,” Nam added.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)