According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the sudden deterioration of air quality in South Korea since December is due to China's coal usage.

Increased coal usage in China promotes air pollution even in South Korea through particulate matter, also known as fine dust, which is transported by wind.

According to CSF, a Chinese expert forum, China highly depends on coal as a primary energy source – 35% of energy plants and 65% of private companies and families in China use coal for energy and heating.

Jeongjin Kim, professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law of China, highlights heating of Northern rural terrain in China as a main cause of air pollution.

The Northern rural population is 603 million, accounting for 43.9% of China’s total population.

Due to the multiple factors that hinder centralized heating – housing dispersion, poverty, and uneven distribution of energy resources – separate heating for each household is more common.

Individual heating mainly uses scattered coal and household waste as a heat source, which has low energy efficiency and releases various toxic and harmful substances such as SO, NOx, suspended solids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PHA), and mercury.

Although fossil fuels have multiple disadvantages, which the Chinese government recognizes, there are many reasons why they cannot be easily replaced.

The first reason is mixed public sentiment regarding coal mine reductions and rising heating costs. Less consumption of coal decreases the value obtained by coal mines in China, which lessens the profits of mine owners .

The second and main reason why China struggles to replace coal is because of the trade dispute with the United States.

The most common and effective way to decrease the use of coal is to replace it with other sources, and most countries quickly replaced coal energy with natural gas which China failed to do because the United States hindered trade.

Despite these factors, the Chinese government is making new plans and restrictions to improve air quality. For this, the Chinese government hopes to reduce coal use and propel alternative energy sources through the ‘Air Pollution Prevention Act’ and the ‘Air Pollution Prevention Action Plan Notice’.

Following these policies, the Chinese government noticed the severity of the air quality in large cities such as Beijing.

Hence, the Chinese government is implementing multiple subsidies in order to establish a clean heating system in the northern region.

Incheon’s ultrafine dust warning and first implementation of emergency reduction measures in Seoul on the 28th of December was in response to coal heating.

The Ministry of Environment of South Korea warned citizens to abstain from engaging in outdoor activities and to wear masks if the outdoor activities are necessary.

Despite the fact that most of the fine dust is from China, implementation of emergency reduction measures in Seoul was intended to decrease the fine dust from Seoul itself.

Since Seoul also produces fine dust from many different sources such as fuel combustion for transportation, the government has introduced many policies to decrease the fine dust produced.

For instance, Electric buses for public transport are one example of reduction measures.

Since 2021, city bus companies were required to purchase zero-emission vehicles, and old buses were converted into electric buses first.

Given that the sudden increase in particulate matter in South Korea since December is due to coal heating in China, the Korea Meteorological Administration is expecting that the air quality will improve after the winter and yellow dust seasons are over.

Sean Park

Grade 9

Saint Paul Preparatory Seoul