Gov't lays out roadmap to reduce fine dust

부처합동 '과학기술기반 미세먼지 대응전략' 발표 The Korean government is rolling up its sleeves to reduce fine dust in the country by investing millions in the development of related technology starting next year. Kim Ji-yeon reports. The Korean government has laid out a seven-year plan to reduce fine dust pollution in Korea by fostering advanced technology in the field. Under the plan, the government is seeking to use mid- and long-term research and development funds... to spark economic benefits in Korea and abroad. The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, along with the environment and health ministries, announced the plan on Friday. Together, they will invest more than 36-point-3-million U.S. dollars over three years starting in 2017 in the development of related technology... and create a ministerial task force on reducing fine dust in Korea. The group will focus on analyzing the toxic components of fine dust, which is particulate matter that's less than two-and-a-half microns,... as well as on finding out how it's formed. If the particles cannot be reduced in size, the government hopes to reduce their toxic elements through innovations in tech development. The technological component of the plan will also be aimed at procuring concentration measurements of fine dust particles in real-time. The measurements are currently limited to land and big cities.... but will now also include measurements of the air quality at higher altitudes and over the sea. The ministries are also planning to incorporate big data and artificial intelligence technology to improve the accuracy of fine dust forecasts. Through an emissions database, the ministries are hoping to raise accuracy rates from 62-percent to 75-percent by 2020... and increase the number of days forecasters can predict air quality levels... from two days in advance... to seven. The plan is part of nine strategically important projects the government announced in August. Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News. Visit ‘Arirang News’ Official Pages Facebook(NEWS):   / newsarirang   Homepage: http://www.arirang.com Facebook:   / arirangtv   Twitter:   / arirangworld   Instagram:   / arirangworld