Koreans are becoming accustomed to hazy skies.<br />While almost half of the impurities that create them are flown in from outside the nation, the Korean government isn't standing idly by.<br />Oh Jung-hee outlines some of the strategies they've formulated to tackle the disturbing level of fine dust in the air. <br />To counter the serious and day-to-day threat of fine dust,... the Korean government has rolled out a new set of policies.<br />The government cited National Institute of Environment Research... and explained that 30 to 50 percent of the fine dust in Korea comes in from other countries.<br />As for the domestic causes, diesel cars are the biggest generators of fine dust in the Seoul metro area -- causing up to 29 percent of the particulate matter in the air -- and factories produced up to 41 percent of the fine dust nationwide. <br />To remedy the situation, the government is seeking to enact tighter restrictions on aging diesel cars and coal power plants.<br /><br /><br />"Diesel cars produced before 2005 will be destroyed by 2019. And the government will expand the number of eco-friendly cars from two-point-six-percent... to thirty-percent by 2020."<br /><br />On top of that, old diesel cars will not be banned from the capital region... and diesel buses will be replaced with buses powered by compressed natural gas.<br />In addition, coal-powered thermal power plants that are over forty years old will be shut down,... while new power plants will face strict environmental standards.<br />Of the 53 coal power plants in Korea, 11 are over 30 years old and three have been in operation for more than 40 years.<br /><br /><br />"Ten coal power plants will be closed down and the most strict emission standards will be imposed on nine newly built plants."<br /><br /><br />"The government is also aiming to bump up the air quality to match Europe's,... expand its cooperation with neighboring countries,... as that's where a good deal of the fine dust comes from,... and further strengthen its dust forecasting system.<br />Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News."
