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| Green Transport Zone / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government |
By Lee Suh-yoon
Seoul Metropolitan Government will issue a 3-week administrative notice starting Thursday, in a move to warn and prepare drivers for an impending high-emission vehicle ban from the city center.
Air pollution is a growing problem for the South Korean capital each winter. Earlier this year, the country saw record concentrations of fine dust particles, setting off a flurry of preventive policy initiatives.
One of those policies is blocking the worst emission grade vehicles from the city center. Old diesel or gasoline cars with the lowest emission control grade ― 5 ― will be banned from what is known as the Green Transport Promotion Zone, a 16.7 square kilometer area encompassing parts of Jongno and Jung-gu inside the old fortress walls of the city.
The ban will be formally decreed in December, after which drivers will be fined 250,000 won ($208) per violation.
"To prepare ourselves for the returning fine dust season and restore a pleasant and clean air environment for citizens, Seoul Metropolitan Government will enact the Green Transport Zone vehicle restriction on December 1st," Hwang Bo-yeon, head of the city's urban transport division, said in a press statement, Wednesday.
Drivers of grade 5 diesel cars can make use of the city government's subsidy to attach a particulate exhaust filter to the engine, bringing the vehicle's emission profile up by one grade.
"The vehicle owner only needs to cover 10 percent the costs ― around 400,000 to 500,000 won," Kim Hwan-kyu, a city official said in a phone interview.
According to the city, 1,323 out of 3,922 grade 5 vehicles that were registered to addresses inside the Green Transport Promotion Zone have already adopted the particulate filters.
Owners of grade 5 vehicles that cannot be fitted with an emission control filter by design will be exempt from the ban until December 2020. Various subsidies will be offered to encourage these drivers to scrap their cars for a lower-emission alternative.
Currently, an average of 10,025 out of 765,898 vehicles passing through the Green Transport Promotion Zone are in the grade 5 category, according to the city's surveillance camera monitoring system implemented in July. Though there are no fines yet, all grade 5 vehicle drivers who pass through the Green Transport Zone automatically get a KakaoTalk message informing them of the emission grade restrictions in the city center.
Citizens can check the relevant ordinance at http://legal.seoul.go.kr and submit their thoughts or suggestions on the ban to the city's transport policy division (aimit@seoul.go.kr) during the 3-week notice period from Aug. 22 to Sept. 11.
