[미세먼지 시리즈] ‘최악 미세먼지’ 누구탓?

China is regarded as a major source of the growing fine dust problem in South Korea, especially in winter and spring, given the direction of seasonal winds. But is it really?
In the first part of our special series on issue,… our Won Jung-hwan looks at the origin of the toxic smog.
"Over the past weeks, most of South Korea, including here in the capital Seoul, has been hit by concentrations of ultrafine particles that were about six times higher than the maximum level recommended by the World Health Organization."
And when that fine dust sticks around,… people always blame one neighboring country -- China.
"We dont know the exact percentage of the fine dust that flows in from China because it depends on the season. But there are various estimates by scientists that about 40 to 60 percent of it could be from China."
Indeed, early this year, a study by a Korean government agency confirmed that China is largely the source.
That conclusion was reached by the National Information Resources Service, which analyzed fine dust flows near the city of Incheon from January 2015 to March 2018.
Also, few years ago,… a joint study by Korea and NASA revealed that about one-third of the seasonal fine dust comes from China.
But China argues that its policies since 2013 have improved its air quality by more than 40 percent,… meaning that if some 30 percent of Korea's dust was from China, then Korea should have also experienced some improvement, but it hasn't.
A professor currently involved in the second round of the NASA project explains that fine dust levels don't always correlate with each other.
"Fine dust, especially the ultrafine particles, are mostly formed in the atmosphere, not at the ground level near factories. So that's why China's claim to have reduced emissions at its factories doesn't always mean a reduction of fine dust levels in that observational period."
But at the end of the day, it is not about pointing fingers, it's about finding ways to reduce the fine dust levels in the region. In fact, considering that it's almost unprecedented for countries to pay compensation to each other in environmental disputes,… the best way to fight fine dust is to cooperate and expand bilateral partnerships.
Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.

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