[Exclusive] Korea-China Push to Establish 'Fine Dust Hotline'

Ministry of Environment's Visit to China Last Month
Proposal to Activate 'High-Level Communication Channel'

The government has confirmed that it is pushing to establish a ministerial-level "fine dust hotline" with Chinese environmental authorities. This communication channel will be operated continuously to allow high-level officials from both countries to urgently share and cooperate on measures when high concentrations of fine dust occur.

According to related ministries on the 27th, the Director of International Cooperation at the Climate and Carbon Policy Office of the Ministry of Environment visited China last month and proposed this idea to the Director of the International Cooperation Division of the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment. This aims to activate a rapid high-level communication channel between South Korea and China regarding fine dust issues, serving as a communication window to request urgent measures from the Chinese side when high concentrations of fine dust arise.

Minister of Environment Han Hwa-jin has defined South Korea and China as a respiratory community concerning fine dust issues and has been promoting the activation of a rapid communication channel between the two countries. A senior official from the Ministry of Environment explained, "This means that counterparts at the director-general level or higher in the environmental authorities will establish an immediate communication channel related to fine dust."

Since the Yoon Seok-yeol administration took office, it has strengthened efforts to reduce fine dust by establishing the "Special Committee on Fine Dust" under the Prime Minister and the "National Climate and Environment Council" under the President, and by operating a seasonal management system from December to March, when the frequency of high-concentration fine dust occurrences increases. Especially this spring, fine dust originating from China is expected to worsen compared to previous years, and due to milder weather causing frequent atmospheric stagnation, the concentration of ultrafine dust is anticipated to be higher than ever. President Yoon instructed strong preparations at the Cabinet meeting on the 20th, stating, "Due to abnormal climate phenomena like El Ni?o, fine dust concentrations are expected to be higher than usual."

The Ministry of Environment has decided to increase the number of public coal-fired power plants to be shut down until the end of next month, the period of full-scale response to spring ultrafine dust. A Ministry of Environment official explained, "We will respond with full force to reduce ultrafine dust by expanding the number of public coal-fired power plants shut down from 15 units in winter to 28 units in spring."

However, there are also views that China may not respond favorably to the proposal to establish this hotline, as it has shown sensitive reactions to official responsibility regarding fine dust issues. In 2016, the Chinese authorities strongly opposed the results of a joint Korea-US air quality investigation conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Research under the Ministry of Environment and NASA, which indicated a high proportion of Chinese-origin fine dust as a cause of domestic fine dust.

During this meeting, South Korea and China also discussed the possibility of holding the Korea-China Environmental Ministers' Meeting, originally scheduled for this year, earlier than planned. They are negotiating to hold the ministerial meeting in the first half of the year, possibly as early as May. In the second half of this year, the Korea-China-Japan Environmental Ministers' Meeting is also scheduled to be held in South Korea. They are also discussing detailed implementation plans for this year's "Cheongcheon Plan," a cooperation plan in the environmental field between the two countries. Last year, joint research was conducted on policy and technical exchanges for air pollution prevention, cooperation in implementing seasonal management measures, greenhouse gas management policies in the automobile pollution and transportation sectors, and air quality forecasting information and forecasting technology. The detailed implementation plan for this year's Cheongcheon Plan is expected to be finalized around next month after mutual consultation.