Seoul hopes rainmakers from China can solve pollution woes

THE South Korean president has proposed a joint project with China to use artificial rain to clean the air in his country and help reduce its dangerous levels of pollution.

Moon Jae-in also instructed government officials to take steps to quickly close coal-burning power plants that have operated for 30 years, according to Kim Eui-kyeom, his spokesman. He also wants them to draw up an extra budget if necessary to install more air purifiers in schools.

“China has claimed that South Korea’s dust flies toward Shanghai, so creating artificial rain over the Yellow Sea would help the Chinese side too,” Mr Kim quoted Mr Moon as saying.

Mr Moon also proposed that South Korea and China develop a joint system for issuing air pollution alerts, Mr Kim said.

Seoul has been struggling to tackle a rise in air pollution that experts have linked to China’s massive industrial activity and emissions from South Korean cars.

Fine dust levels in South Korea have hit new highs over the past week, prompting people to wear masks while commuting under thick-grey skies.

When asked about Mr Moon’s proposal,

‘I wonder if South Korea has any basis that its smog is from China ... the cause is very complicated’

Lu Kang, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said cooperation would be good but downplayed Seoul’s claim that China is a major source of its pollution.

“I wonder if the South Korean side has any basis that its smog is from China,” Mr Lu said, noting that fine dust readings had been higher in Seoul than Beijing recently. “All countries realise that the cause is very complicated.”

Yesterday, the fine dust concentration level was 136mg per cubic metre in Seoul, according to the National Institute of Environmental Research, which defines levels above 75mg per cubic metre as “very bad”.

Na Kyung-won, the floor leader of the conservative Liberty Korea Party, called on Mr Moon to designate the air pollution as a national disaster. Ruling and opposition parties agreed at an emergency meeting to swiftly pass bills to cope with the problem.

In a meeting with government officials, Mr Moon noted that China was “much more advanced” than South Korea in rain-making technologies and expressed hope that creating rain over waters between the countries would help mitigate the air pollution.

In January, South Korea’s weather agency failed in an experiment to create artificial rain, which involved an aircraft releasing chemicals into clouds over the sea.