Fine Dust Emergency Measures

[Anchor Lead]

The Environment Ministry has laid out emergency measures to tackle the fine dust situation. The measures call for installing outdoor air purifiers such as on building rooftops and tightening restrictions on vehicle use.

[Pkg]

An air purifying tower installed in downtown Beijing, a city infamous for poor air quality. Standing 7 meters high, the apparatus sucks in polluted air through its massive inhaler. It was said to purify 30,000 cubic meters of air per hour but the actual impact was insignificant. The Korean government decided to develop outdoor air cleaners that are more advanced than the Beijing version.

[Soundbite] Cho Myung-rae(Minister of Environment) : "We'll soon begin a project to develop air purifying equipment best fit for Seoul or Korea's city centers."

The government believes that once they are installed on the rooftops of public buildings and in subway ventilating shafts, fine dust levels in downtown areas will likely decrease. A single outdoor air purifier is estimated to cost 100 to 200 million won. The government will dip into its supplementary budget and promptly begin the project from May. Restrictions on vehicle use will be also be tightened. Currently, only grade five emissions vehicles are subject to restrictions in the capital area. The government plans to restrict grade four emissions vehicles as well and completely ban the use of cars belonging to public agencies from the third day in which fine dust reduction measures are in effect, When fine dust measures are issued for five days or longer, citizens may be urged to keep their cars at home every other day, depending on where they live. The Environment Ministry also said it will carry out cooperation projects with China that were instructed by President Moon Jae-in. They include joint experiments to create artificial rain.