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Korea, China, Japan to discuss fine dust

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By Lee Kyung-min

Environment ministers of Korea, China and Japan will attend an annual meeting to discuss measures to tackle fine dust, a health threat that has posed growing concerns to Koreans over the past few years, the environment ministry said Thursday.

Environment Minister Kim Eun-kyung and her Chinese and Japanese counterparts Li Ganjie and Nakagawa Masaharu will meet Saturday and Sunday in Suzhou, China. Three bilateral meetings will precede the tripartite meeting. The ministers will discuss ways to enhance regional, global and environmental cooperation for sustainable development that would serve the interests of the three countries that share air and water. They will review each other's latest environmental policy initiatives.

Minister Kim will seek cooperation from the two countries to initiate the Northeast Asia Clean Air Partnership (NEACAP) by the end of October. The negotiation body will conduct research, share the latest data on air and water pollution, make recommendations and implement jointly agreed-upon action plans.

Various efforts undertaken by the Korean government will be presented at the meeting, the ministry said, to promote understanding on the need to cooperate to curb air pollution. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said last month that drivers of old, diesel-powered vehicles driven between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. in Seoul when fine dust alerts are in effect will be fined 100,000 won ($89). Over 2.2 million vehicles registered before Dec. 31, 2005, are subject to the ban as of this month, while those equipped with exhaust-reducing air treatment systems will be exempt from the ban. A nine-month grace period will be allowed, the city government said, for drivers of vehicles registered in non-Seoul regions and old trucks that weigh below 2.5 tons as well as drivers with disabilities, giving them time to get their trucks equipped with the anti-pollution equipment. The measure is among a slew of efforts to reduce air-pollution including an odd-even vehicle use ban subject only to civil servants, under which vehicles with odd-numbered plates must not be driven on even-numbered dates and vice-versa.

Similarly, the National Institute of Environment Research (NIER), supervised by the ministry, said it will use drones to crackdown on air polluting facilities including manufacturers of fabric, clothing, shoes, leather, rubber, cork, minerals, paper and cigarettes where areas with above average PM10 (particulate matter of 10 micrometers or less in diameter) over the past three years. Camera-equipped drones attached with air pollution level detection-equipped devices will be used as well as vehicles equipped with real-time air quality analyzers.

Environment ministers of the three countries have been meeting annually at the Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting (TEMM) since 1999.






Lee Kyung-min lkm@koreatimes.co.kr


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