문대통령 "미세먼지, 특단의 대책 필요, 창의력과 상상력 발휘해야 할 때"
This winter, South Korea's seen unprecedented levels of fine dust pollution -- some of it blown over from China, some of it produced here.
This morning, President Moon Jae-in addressed the issue in a Cabinet meeting, and called for more creative ways to solve the problem.
Our Blue House correspondent Hwang Hojun reports. According to the South Korean President, desperate times call for desperate measures.
"Now, it's time to do something drastic, to use our creativity and imagination."
President Moon Jae-in was speaking in his regular cabinet meeting on Tuesday... where he urged the government to recognize and respond to the fine dust problem as it would a disaster, like an extreme cold spell or heat wave.
That message comes about a week after Seoul was smothered by record-high levels of ultrafine dust particles for four consecutive days.
President Moon stressed that reducing the fine dust has been one of the administration's policy goals as part of protecting the people's right to health.
But as the air quality continues to degrade, he urged his cabinet members to think outside the box.
Conventional measures already in the works include getting old diesel cars off the road, increasing the number of clean energy vehicles, shutting down coal-fired power plants and replacing old household heaters with new eco-friendly ones.
But President Moon also called for the development of new technologies to fight the dust,... including but not limited to artificially induced rain, high-pressure spraying and dust collectors.
He also noted the public's concern over fine dust originating from China and emphasized the need to reinforce cooperation with China to reduce it.
"I hope you will work on the diplomatic front to jointly establish an early warning system for fine dust."
President Moon also called for bipartisan efforts in the National Assembly to pass and revise special laws on fine dust to improve the nation's overall air quality.
But above all, President Moon said, the government needs to let the people know that it's doing all it can to tackle the issue. He referred to the planned launch next month of a special committee on fine dust control, jointly organized by the government and civilians, and said he hope it will serve as a pan-government control tower that will reinforce communication with the people.
Hwang Hojun, Arirang News.
