Seoul to impose daytime ban on high-emission vehicles from December to March

Cars pack Gangbyeon Expressway in Mapo District, western Seoul, as a camera on the expressway looks for grade 5 vehicles on the road on Nov. 12. [YONHAP]

Grade 5 vehicles, the lowest in Korea’s five-tier emission standards, will be restricted on Seoul's roads for four months as part of a seasonal effort to improve the city’s air quality.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Monday it will ban grade 5 vehicles in all parts of the capital from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays from December through March, except public holidays.

Grade 5 vehicles refer to small- and midsize gas-powered vehicles released before 1987 and diesel cars produced before July 2002. For large cars, they include diesel vehicles released before July 2002 and gas-powered cars made before 2000, according to the Ministry of Environment.

These vehicles account for more than half of the total emissions from road transportation, the city government said.

Drivers of grade 5 vehicles caught on the road during the restricted period will be penalized with a maximum daily fine of 100,000 won ($7.7).

Grade 5 vehicles have only been restricted in central areas of Seoul, in the so-called Green Transport Zones, including parts of Jongno District and Jung District in central Seoul, since 2019.

There are approximately 610,000 grade 5 vehicles in the capital.

This marks the fifth consecutive year that the city government has introduced such a plan around this time of the year when the concentration of fine dust is heavier than usual.

Over the last three years, the concentration of ultrafine dust from November to March has exceeded the annual average of 20 micrograms per cubic meter.

The seasonal initiative will be implemented in the greater Seoul area, including Gyeonggi and Incheon. Other regions, like Gwangju and Daejeon, will introduce the measure this year.

Exemptions will be applied to vehicles equipped with diesel particulate filters (DPF), emergency vehicles such as fire trucks and ambulances and vehicles owned by low-income families.

Drivers of grade 5 vehicles must also pay 50 percent more to park at municipal lots.

The city government said the seasonal initiative has been successful, reducing the concentration of ultrafine dust by 26 percent on-year during the same period last year.

This year, the capital aims to cut 125 tons of ultrafine dust and 2,180 tons of nitrogen oxides through pollution-reducing measures rolled out by the city government to reduce emissions from different sources, including transportation and heating.

The metropolitan government will hand out 10,000 environmentally friendly heaters to facilities that need them, including orphanages and senior centers.

It will also monitor air quality at transportation and subway platforms, particularly 49 platforms exposed to high concentrations of fine dust, including Dongdaemun Station in eastern Seoul and City Hall Station in central Seoul.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced last year that grade 4 diesel vehicles would also be banned from Seoul’s central areas starting in 2025 as part of the air quality improvement project dubbed Clearer Seoul 2030.

According to the project, village buses, delivery motorbikes and trucks will all go electric by 2026.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]