Fine dust pollution is weighing on the South Korean economy as well... costing the country billions of dollars last year alone.
Kim Hyesung reports.
A new study shows fine dust cost the South Korean economy over 3-and-a-half billion U.S. dollars in 2018.
That's about zero-point-two percent of South Korea's nominal GDP.
According to a survey by the Hyundai Research Institute on more than one thousand adults in February, seven out of ten Koreans said their production activities and sales were affected by the fine dust pollution.
By sector, people in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors saw the biggest fall of over eight percent, the services sector, which includes wholesale, retail and lodging, went down 7 percent.
In 2018, fine dust advisories were issued for an average of 25 days nationwide.
Households' spending on face masks to protect themselves against fine dust was an average of 18 dollars a month, around one percent of households' average monthly spending.
The survey added most spending on masks was by high-income people in their 30s and 40s, and said the lower income class are particularly badly affected by fine dust.
Respondents pointed to China's air pollution, diesel cars and coal-fired thermal power plants in Korea as the main reasons for the fine dust.
To tackle the growing economic cost to South Korea, the Hyundai Research Institute recommended joint research with China to scientifically identify the cause of fine dust problem in the country and come up with corresponding measures.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.