Yellow dust expected to continue Friday

Yellow dust blankets Seoul on Thursday as weather authorities warned of bad air quality through Friday. [YONHAP]

Yellow dust descended on Korea on Thursday and was expected to linger through Friday, pushing fine dust levels up in the Seoul metropolitan area and some southern regions.

The Air Quality Forecasting Center, run by the Environment Ministry’s National Institute of Environmental Research, blamed China for the air pollutants, saying that the yellow dust affecting Korea this week originated from northeast China on Wednesday.

Korea's northwestern coastal areas were the hardest hit on Thursday, with fine dust levels in Incheon reaching 163 micrograms per cubic meter, which is considered “very bad” on the government’s four-tier air quality system.

On Friday, fine dust levels in the Seoul metropolitan area — referring to Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi — Gangwon, South Chungcheong, North Chungcheong, North Jeolla, Busan, Daegu, Ulsan and North Gyeongsang are expected to be “bad,” while the rest of the country is predicted to be “normal.”

An area’s air quality is considered “good,” “normal,” “bad” or “very bad” depending on the concentration of fine dust. “Very bad” is when the fine dust level hits 151 micrograms per cubic meter or above.

Thursday marked the third time this month that yellow dust was detected in Seoul. The first and second time was March 15 and 16.

Korea is usually affected by yellow dust during the springtime from March to May, but officials from the National Institute of Meteorological Sciences have warned that yellow dust was being detected in the country in early March far more frequently than in previous years.

According to data from the institute, the number of days that yellow dust was detected in Korea in the month of March from 1991 to 2020 was nearly triple the corresponding figure from 1973 to 2000.

“In the past, we used to see yellow dust in April, but now we’re seeing more yellow dust days in March,” said Shin Seung-suk, a spokesperson from the institute.

“It’s presumed that this is because the source of the yellow dust has become less snowy and drier, which creates favorable climatic conditions for yellow dust to form even in winter or early spring.”

Lee Gwang-yeon, a forecast analyst at the Korea Meteorological Administration, chimed in, saying that Korea was likely to be affected by yellow dust more often going forward because the main sources, Mongolia and northern China, were experiencing less snow and little precipitation, creating environmental conditions conducive for yellow dust particles to rise and float its way into Korea.

BY CHUN KWON-PIL, LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]