The council said that domestic industries, power plants, and diesel cars are also critical sources of fine dust. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jun. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — The National Council on Climate and Air Quality, South Korea’s pan-national body on fine dust air pollution, released a statement claiming that public opinion relies too much on criticizing China based on incorrect information related to air pollution and fine particulate matter.
“South Korean citizens are finding it difficult to trust public opinion because they receive incorrect information on the cause of fine dust,” said the council.
“Citizens are falsely informed that 83 percent of fine dust in South Korea is caused by China, but scientists argue that the Chinese influence is actually no more than 20 to 50 percent.”
The government once reported that foreign factors account for 70 to 80 percent of fine dust whenever the air quality was particularly bad.
That, however, was when foreign influence had reached an extreme level and was far above annual average.
The council reported that these numbers seem to have made the public believe that the Chinese influence is absolute whenever there is a severe air pollution in South Korea.
The council then added that domestic industries, power plants, and diesel cars are also critical sources of fine dust.
Large cargo ships anchored along the coast are also known to cause fine dust that is equivalent to the amount of emission from 500,000 cars, since they use a more affordable, but low grade bunker C oil.
Former U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, now serving as chairman of the council, has said on multiple occasions that South Korea should not rely too much on blaming China, but rather work on limiting domestic sources of air pollutants.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
