The government is conducting a joint drill involving relevant ministries and local governments to prepare for high concentrations of fine dust during the winter.
The Ministry of Climate, Energy, and Environment announced on November 9 that it will hold the "2026 Fine Dust Disaster Response Drill" from November 10 to 11, with participation from 11 relevant ministries and 16 local governments nationwide.
Fine dust was classified as a social disaster under the Disaster and Safety Management Basic Act in 2019. Since then, the Ministry has conducted annual joint drills with relevant agencies.
This year's drill simulates a scenario where fine dust levels rise sharply, prompting an emergency alert at the "caution" level. The drill will include both on-site and written exercises to identify potential issues that could arise during an actual disaster and to ensure that each agency's response system operates smoothly.
The fine dust emergency alert system is divided into four levels: "interest," "caution," "alert," and "serious." The "caution" level is issued when the interest level persists for two consecutive days and is expected to continue for another day, or when the one-hour average concentration of fine dust exceeds 150 µg/m³ for more than two hours, with forecasts predicting levels above 75 µg/m³ the following day.
On the first day of the drill, November 10, the scenario assumes that fine dust concentrations will exceed 150 µg/m³ for more than two hours in all 16 local governments, with expectations of exceeding 75 µg/m³ the next day.
The Ministry plans to issue a "caution" alert at 5 PM, and local governments will practice implementing emergency reduction measures starting at 6 AM on November 11.
On the second day of the drill, November 11, a joint inspection meeting will be held at the Han River Flood Control Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, at 8 AM, chaired by Kim Jin-sik, Director of the Air Quality Division at the Ministry.
The joint inspection meeting will begin with a report on the current status and forecast of fine dust from the National Institute of Environmental Research, followed by sharing the status of emergency reduction measures by each agency. The meeting will also review the cooperation system among agencies and identify areas for improvement during disaster response.
On-site training will include measures to reduce emissions of air pollutants by shortening operating hours of public works, restricting the use of old construction machinery at government construction sites, checking the operation of a system to restrict vehicles classified as grade 5 in emissions, and conducting inspections for illegal emissions using advanced equipment, as well as operating road cleaning vehicles.
Written training will involve implementing coal power generation restrictions, a two-day vehicle operation system for administrative and public institutions, and sending emergency disaster text messages. While the system for restricting grade 5 emission vehicles will be checked, no fines will be imposed for violations.
The Ministry aims to address any shortcomings identified during this drill to ensure a swift and systematic response in the event of high concentrations of fine dust.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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