Nowadays, fine dust from China is bothering South Korea. Air pollution is getting more serious because China not only has about 70 percent of the dependence on coal but also has been volunteering as “The World’s Factory” since the 1990s. The northeastern coast near South Korea such as by Beijing and Shandong has the highest emission of air pollutants. These pollutants fly to Korea, mix and accumulate with pollutants in Korea, and increase the level of fine dust. According to joint research from the National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) of Korea, Japan, and China, 30 to 50 percent of pollutants in Korea originate from China. When policies related to air pollution were enacted in 2007, the level of the fine dust was not serious.

  However, due to Chinese fine dust, it is increasing rapidly as have gone by since 2013. The problem of the fine dust has reached a dangerous condition. For instance, Air Visual, an application which provides global air pollution, introduced Seoul as the second worst city for air pollution next to a city in India. In addition, Financial Times also introduced South Korea as joining the ranks of the world’s most polluted countries.