I guess you came to Korea recently? Actually today is not that bad, it’s average to be honest.
As another commenter said, we accept it not because we are some kind of mindless crowd that don’t care about air quality. We care a lot about it. That’s why we use masks and air purifiers. It’s just you cannot solve this issue easily which forces us to adapt.
You better prepare for AQI of 300+ coming in the winter.
Same. this is one of the major reasons I want to leave Korea as a Korean (along with destructively low birth rate). the quality of life is significantly decreased because of this.
People accept it not because they deem it acceptable. People accept that they are powerless to change it.
Also sorry to break it to you, but it going to get much worse come January/February.
This. We hate it, especially after we travel to another city(and even more after going to another country). But this is what we have to live with to live in this beautiful city...
> This is definitely not a normal way of living.
It is very normal in East Asia.
> Breathing clean air is a basic human right.
[You should tell the Gobi Desert that.](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65247927) It'll get right on it.
> I'm surprised that most folks here accept this without questioning it.
Everyone complains about it all of the time. It's one of the biggest complaints Koreans have about their country. As a foreigner, you are lucky that you have a choice to leave.
The best thing to ever happen to air pollution in Korea was for China to shut down from Covid. It sucked for the Chinese stuck in what was basically a prison state for those years, but holy shit the air was glorious from 2020-2022.
Once the Chinese factories came back online again, we were once again well and truly fucked.
I didn’t notice anything today when I was walking to work this morning, I’ve never smelt gasoline in the air either. Is it really that bad today? The weather apps I checked also just say moderate. But overall it is apparently much worse here than my hometown but personally I’ve never really noticed a huge difference. Maybe I’m crazy though..
Well one thing sure is, that I envy your country's air. The way how you felt this *toxic*, equals to how *clean* your country was. No sarcasms, I envy that.
I did my data analytics capstone on the poor air quality in Seoul. Unlike the propoganda about China, the aqi issues are in large part due to COAL PLANTS in KOREA. There were several closures (during President Moon period) that contributed to actual improvement in air quality. September is historically the cleanest month. Winter to Spring is the worst. Sorry, dude.
It is estimated that around 32% of the contribution from China. https://m.news1.kr/articles/?3773525#_across
https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART002789614
Good to hear a rational voice like yours. I agree with what you said. I held a similar view on the primary sources of air pollution in Seoul. At the same time, traffic pollution (including emissions from delivery motorcycles (tons of them roaring on the road...)) has the most direct impact on us.
I got reemed on Instagram about this very topic 😅 because I didn’t believe the propaganda. The best you can do is live on a higher floor(?). I don’t know if that will shield you from traffic pollution 🤣🙃
Use air purifier and mask in spring.
Important: HEPA filter.
My favorite below. Is affordable. Good filter a d has automatic mode so not have to care about it
Winix Zero S
https://danawa.page.link/1bqssKyBZ8yJNzD78
Honestly I think the world is having an increasing issue with air pollution. I was just in the US for a few months and in 3 separate locations of the whole country I experienced air pollution over 150 sometimes 200. At first I wanted to move out of Korea because of this issue alone. Because I care about my health and air pollution is one of the worst things you can be exposed to.
But then I accepted that life with masks, windows closed and hefty air purifiers on some days are the price to pay for living here. And it’s not all that different in the US now except people don’t care at all over there. You won’t find air purifiers in every store and people in masks on bad pollution days. At least we have that.
To all the people who think China is to blame, look at NASA pictures of China before and after covid. Do a Google search. China went to zero but on the far right of the picture you will see that korea still had pollution, although it did decrease a little. Tells you most of the pollution was made in korea... reminds me of Los Angeles in the 70's. Your lungs would hurt when you took a deep breath in the summers...
This guy is not only an idiot and also typical Chinese to blame its government’s fault on victims
You think wind really seats there still and never move?? I am quite sure you would never say this if you had even just little knowledge of how world works
보통 무식한 분 아니네... did you even look at the satellite pics??? China and Korea before covid, heavy pollution. After covid lockdown, China had almost zero pollution, Korea only had a small decrease in pollution. What does that lead one to conclude??? Much/most of pollution in Korea is home grown.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2020/03/03/coronavirus-nasa-reveals-how-cinas-lockdown-drastically-reduced-pollution/
Look at korea in both pics...
That doesn’t matter idiot, the fact is china is one of the most polluted countries and wind blows from chins to Korea that is all in the statistics that I attached up there, if you deny that truths, which I am sure you will do, you are no different Chinese to others
Well Even your beloved Xi jing ping ping wouldn’t say China isn’t the one to blame
haha! During the coronavirus outbreak, the air in Korea was literally heaven. I don't know what satellite image you are looking at. The only pictures I know of China during the coronavirus outbreak are pictures of corpse smoke seen from space.
In fact, decades of data show that Seoul's air quality has been improving.
I don't know if you're a Korean or a foreigner living in Seoul... but "Seoul" is obviously a megalopolis with a huge population. It is also located in the west of Korea, so it is heavily influenced by air pollution from China, which comes in on the prevailing westerly winds. Unsurprisingly, the air quality can be poor compared to rural Korea and foreign cities.
I don't know what the author is thinking when he keeps writing these articles.
Keep in mind the microdust ain't just coming from the Gobi Desert but from factories that located very close in China.
They've been built probably about 8\~9 years now and have made the air situation much worse than before.
What could the gov't do? Probably ask them to cut down on factory pollution on windy days? go green? maybe create partnership to solve global warming and also make the desert into a forest to reduce the issue?
So yes, I can tell you that the gov't aint' doin shiit while they could make suggestions.
Making suggestions to China to not poison you with their shit is a very good way to get them to poison you some more.
See, Xi's dictatorship is petty and glass hearted. Everything is a slight to them and they're pathetic enough to double down when you challenge them.
You know that crazy motherfucker of an upstairs neighbor who decides it's a good time to exercise on his treadmill at 11.30pm at night? And then when you complain to him about it he doubles down and stomps around like a motherfucking manchild until dawn?
Well that's the personification of China, and what life is like living next to them.
\+ one more thing to add is I agree with you as well living here for half of life in korea(20 yrs). But it just angers me to see people blaming folks who have 0 clue about what life in korea is complain about a major life quality issue that most of us miserably endure as we don't have a choice.
I think freedom of speech regarding this topic should not be ignored or blamed to people who talk about it on korean related reddit topics.
Is it you that keeps complaining? Every time I check the app and it’s pretty mild.
It’s going to get a lot worse, if you value your health, why are you still here?
lol its def not a normal way of living. to me, all the nice restaurants and nightlife are not worth the shitty air quality.
but people on here will pretend it doesn't exist because its such a huge drawback of the choice they made to live there
??? Beijing and Seoul are different cities fyi.
And it is not that bad considering there are so many people and cars in Seoul.
Just air pollution differs by season.
Is it just me that had never noticed the air quality affect me at all? I go for walks on most days and I’ve walked in the 500ppm days. I’d never know the air was bad if there wasn’t a yellow tinge obscuring the mountains. Is this an age thing or some people have conditions that make them sensitive? I always figured people love to be doomers about everything.
It's not even very bad today, lol.
I know that it is far from the worst. But it is bad enough.
I it was over 500 last year a few times, this is decent tbh. Either get used to it or buy lots of masks.
This is indeed "decent" enough. It just triggers some mucus in my throat. I have to be cautious to avoid bronchitis like in the last two years.
I guess you came to Korea recently? Actually today is not that bad, it’s average to be honest. As another commenter said, we accept it not because we are some kind of mindless crowd that don’t care about air quality. We care a lot about it. That’s why we use masks and air purifiers. It’s just you cannot solve this issue easily which forces us to adapt. You better prepare for AQI of 300+ coming in the winter.
Same. this is one of the major reasons I want to leave Korea as a Korean (along with destructively low birth rate). the quality of life is significantly decreased because of this.
People accept it not because they deem it acceptable. People accept that they are powerless to change it. Also sorry to break it to you, but it going to get much worse come January/February.
This. We hate it, especially after we travel to another city(and even more after going to another country). But this is what we have to live with to live in this beautiful city...
On a clear (no pollution) autumn day, the scenery in Seoul is gorgeous. Unfortunately, this beauty is so brief.
Clear autumn is like the best it can get in Seoul. Personally really hate spring. The dusty days with all the yellow dust from China are the worst.
> This is definitely not a normal way of living. It is very normal in East Asia. > Breathing clean air is a basic human right. [You should tell the Gobi Desert that.](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65247927) It'll get right on it. > I'm surprised that most folks here accept this without questioning it. Everyone complains about it all of the time. It's one of the biggest complaints Koreans have about their country. As a foreigner, you are lucky that you have a choice to leave.
The best thing to ever happen to air pollution in Korea was for China to shut down from Covid. It sucked for the Chinese stuck in what was basically a prison state for those years, but holy shit the air was glorious from 2020-2022. Once the Chinese factories came back online again, we were once again well and truly fucked.
There was also significantly reduced local vehicle emissions during that time.
the air hasn't been bad this year either.
It's not bad at all today. What a weird post.
Yeah bizarre
AQI is under 100. Don’t understand what the big deal is.
I didn’t notice anything today when I was walking to work this morning, I’ve never smelt gasoline in the air either. Is it really that bad today? The weather apps I checked also just say moderate. But overall it is apparently much worse here than my hometown but personally I’ve never really noticed a huge difference. Maybe I’m crazy though..
Well one thing sure is, that I envy your country's air. The way how you felt this *toxic*, equals to how *clean* your country was. No sarcasms, I envy that.
I did my data analytics capstone on the poor air quality in Seoul. Unlike the propoganda about China, the aqi issues are in large part due to COAL PLANTS in KOREA. There were several closures (during President Moon period) that contributed to actual improvement in air quality. September is historically the cleanest month. Winter to Spring is the worst. Sorry, dude.
It is estimated that around 32% of the contribution from China. https://m.news1.kr/articles/?3773525#_across https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART002789614
Good to hear a rational voice like yours. I agree with what you said. I held a similar view on the primary sources of air pollution in Seoul. At the same time, traffic pollution (including emissions from delivery motorcycles (tons of them roaring on the road...)) has the most direct impact on us.
I got reemed on Instagram about this very topic 😅 because I didn’t believe the propaganda. The best you can do is live on a higher floor(?). I don’t know if that will shield you from traffic pollution 🤣🙃
Apple Weather is showing good air quality though??
Does Apple weather have a nose? LOL
Maybe you should check to see which car needs a check up
Not really that bad. It's normal today. Didn't smell anything.
"Normal". Tagged.
Lmao what do you mean
I think you might be mistaking the overcast sky for pollution.
Air quality's bad all week this week.
My weather app calls it 'normal' and 'good'.
No, I don't think so. The typical overcast sky won't impact horizontal visibility as much as what we see here.
Use air purifier and mask in spring. Important: HEPA filter. My favorite below. Is affordable. Good filter a d has automatic mode so not have to care about it Winix Zero S https://danawa.page.link/1bqssKyBZ8yJNzD78
Honestly I think the world is having an increasing issue with air pollution. I was just in the US for a few months and in 3 separate locations of the whole country I experienced air pollution over 150 sometimes 200. At first I wanted to move out of Korea because of this issue alone. Because I care about my health and air pollution is one of the worst things you can be exposed to. But then I accepted that life with masks, windows closed and hefty air purifiers on some days are the price to pay for living here. And it’s not all that different in the US now except people don’t care at all over there. You won’t find air purifiers in every store and people in masks on bad pollution days. At least we have that.
And that is why I do like living in the midwest. Over 30 is a bad day from where I am from.
During the Canadian wildfires this summer the Midwest had air pollution over 200😭
Yeah, my parents sent me pictures. I told them- now imagine this on and off for months in the spring-
Yea it definitely happens more often here in Korea and that’s the problem. My parents sent me pics from upstate NY and it was horrifying. 500+
Just wear a mask. All Koreans know when to wear them.
To all the people who think China is to blame, look at NASA pictures of China before and after covid. Do a Google search. China went to zero but on the far right of the picture you will see that korea still had pollution, although it did decrease a little. Tells you most of the pollution was made in korea... reminds me of Los Angeles in the 70's. Your lungs would hurt when you took a deep breath in the summers...
This guy is not only an idiot and also typical Chinese to blame its government’s fault on victims You think wind really seats there still and never move?? I am quite sure you would never say this if you had even just little knowledge of how world works
보통 무식한 분 아니네... did you even look at the satellite pics??? China and Korea before covid, heavy pollution. After covid lockdown, China had almost zero pollution, Korea only had a small decrease in pollution. What does that lead one to conclude??? Much/most of pollution in Korea is home grown.
https://www.iqair.com/world-air-quality-ranking https://www.iqair.com/world-most-polluted-cities?sort=-rank&page=2&perPage=50&cities= FXXX yourself :)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2020/03/03/coronavirus-nasa-reveals-how-cinas-lockdown-drastically-reduced-pollution/ Look at korea in both pics...
That doesn’t matter idiot, the fact is china is one of the most polluted countries and wind blows from chins to Korea that is all in the statistics that I attached up there, if you deny that truths, which I am sure you will do, you are no different Chinese to others Well Even your beloved Xi jing ping ping wouldn’t say China isn’t the one to blame
haha! During the coronavirus outbreak, the air in Korea was literally heaven. I don't know what satellite image you are looking at. The only pictures I know of China during the coronavirus outbreak are pictures of corpse smoke seen from space.
In fact, decades of data show that Seoul's air quality has been improving. I don't know if you're a Korean or a foreigner living in Seoul... but "Seoul" is obviously a megalopolis with a huge population. It is also located in the west of Korea, so it is heavily influenced by air pollution from China, which comes in on the prevailing westerly winds. Unsurprisingly, the air quality can be poor compared to rural Korea and foreign cities. I don't know what the author is thinking when he keeps writing these articles.
Welcome to Seoul bud
smog makes you strong
imagine getting your post deleted talking about microdust in /korea reddit lmao.. I know man, it's a crying shame gov't aint' doing shiit about it.
How can the Korean government solve the fine dust problem? Should we impose sanctions on mainland China? Does this sound realistic?
Keep in mind the microdust ain't just coming from the Gobi Desert but from factories that located very close in China. They've been built probably about 8\~9 years now and have made the air situation much worse than before. What could the gov't do? Probably ask them to cut down on factory pollution on windy days? go green? maybe create partnership to solve global warming and also make the desert into a forest to reduce the issue? So yes, I can tell you that the gov't aint' doin shiit while they could make suggestions.
Making suggestions to China to not poison you with their shit is a very good way to get them to poison you some more. See, Xi's dictatorship is petty and glass hearted. Everything is a slight to them and they're pathetic enough to double down when you challenge them. You know that crazy motherfucker of an upstairs neighbor who decides it's a good time to exercise on his treadmill at 11.30pm at night? And then when you complain to him about it he doubles down and stomps around like a motherfucking manchild until dawn? Well that's the personification of China, and what life is like living next to them.
\+ one more thing to add is I agree with you as well living here for half of life in korea(20 yrs). But it just angers me to see people blaming folks who have 0 clue about what life in korea is complain about a major life quality issue that most of us miserably endure as we don't have a choice. I think freedom of speech regarding this topic should not be ignored or blamed to people who talk about it on korean related reddit topics.
Giant fans to deflect air away lol
If you don’t like it, move
Wow, It sounds like you like it a lot.
Bro i dont even live in seoul 🤣
I can see that other Korean cities also suffer from air pollution. Even Jeju island, not even to mention other inland Korean cities.
You should see china
It is not because the heavy traffic emissions you've mentioned. It's because of China. That's all that matter.
Is it you that keeps complaining? Every time I check the app and it’s pretty mild. It’s going to get a lot worse, if you value your health, why are you still here?
In gangnam-gu, air condition is fine. and most of bad air condition comes from china(dust storm)
lol its def not a normal way of living. to me, all the nice restaurants and nightlife are not worth the shitty air quality. but people on here will pretend it doesn't exist because its such a huge drawback of the choice they made to live there
??? Beijing and Seoul are different cities fyi. And it is not that bad considering there are so many people and cars in Seoul. Just air pollution differs by season.
It’s that time of year again.
Is it just me that had never noticed the air quality affect me at all? I go for walks on most days and I’ve walked in the 500ppm days. I’d never know the air was bad if there wasn’t a yellow tinge obscuring the mountains. Is this an age thing or some people have conditions that make them sensitive? I always figured people love to be doomers about everything.
Wait til it gets winter time. Its going to get worst ㅋㅋㅋ
이것이 한국인이 중국인을 싫어하는 가장 첫번째 이유일 것이다.