Many korean people are worried about the phenomenon "fine dust". According to HEI(Health Effects Institute), the annual average rate of fine dust concentration in Korea ranked 34th among thirty-five OECD member nations.

Particulate matter, generally called fine dust, is air contaminant which includes carbon monoxide, sulfurous acid gas, ozone and heavy metal. Droplet size of which are below 10㎛.

It comes from factories and automobile vehicles, and stays in the air for a long period.

These fine dust particles can cause respiratory disease (like asthma and bronchitis), eye inflammation, skin irritation, cardiovascular problems and even encephalopathy.

The Korean Ministry of Environmental affairs has been claming that 50% or more of fine dust comes from Chinese industrial areas. The Korean press is also blaming the Chinese government for air pollution in Korea. On the other hand, Greenpeace, an environmental pressure group, contends that 50~70% of fine dust in Korea is made domestically, and blames the Ministry of Environmental affairs policy for being inadequate. Some people point out that the representative of Greenpeace is Chinese, and that makes it hard to believe Greenpeace's stance on this subject to be neutral.

The fine dust problem is directly connected to people's lives. The Korean and Chinese governments should stop shifting the responsibility onto each other. It is clear that the international community, of both advanced and developing countries, must work together to solve the issue.

April 8th, 2017. By Moon Hojung