The South Korean government said Friday that it will abolish a series of benefits offered to diesel-fueled cars, hoping to reduce the number of diesel vehicles as part of its plans to counter the increasing level of fine dust.

The government also said that it will soon review the energy source price system, leaving room for a possible diesel price hike.

It also pledged to close down up to 10 units of coal power plants or substitute coal with liquefied natural gas and to boost investment into new growth energy industries such as solar power.

A pan-government task force, led by Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and consisting of the chiefs of related ministries, also announced a comprehensive plan on fine dust, aiming to improve Seoul’s fine dust concentration within 10 years.

“The goal is to lower Seoul’s average fine dust concentration by year 2026 down to 18 micrograms per cubic meter, which is the average of major European cities,” Hwang said.
 

The key action plan is to limit the entry of old diesel-powered cars into the Seoul metropolitan area and to shut down coal-powered power generation plants which have been in action for 40 years or more.

Reflecting the study result that diesel vehicles account for 30 percent of fine dust emissions in the city, the government will also increase funds to replace bus fuel from diesel to compressed natural gas. A special tax cut will be offered to CNG buses, starting from 2018.

It also pledged to increase the proportion of environment friendly electric cars up to 30 percent by 2020, and to establish some 3,000 electric charging stations around the nation.

As for barbecue places, authorities decided to provide subsidies so that they may set up filtered vents to reduce the amount of smoke and dust particles.

Earlier on, the Environment Ministry suggested that the roasting of pork and fish accounted for a considerable amount of fine dust emissions, raising the argument that it was shifting the blame onto restaurant owners.

The task force did not, however, include a diesel price hike, a plan earlier suggested by the ministry but which was met with fierce backlash from industrial circles.

Fine dust refers to particles that are smaller than 10 micrometers which are known to cause various respiratory problems and harm the human immune system.

A fine dust watch is to be issued when the average concentration exceeds 65 micrograms per cubic meter over the past 24 hours or remains at 90 micrograms per cubic meter for more for two hours straight.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)