"오늘 온종일 미세먼지 고농도"…비 오는 내일 '보통' 회복

Over the past few days, South Korea has seen the fine dust level skyrocketing.
The government has enacted emergency measures to reduce the amount of particulate matter in the air.
Choi Si-young outlines what they are.
Emergency measures from the Ministry of Environment were in effect on Wednesday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Seoul metropolitan area, putting restrictions on driving and on power plants.
They affected the capital, Incheon and most of Gyeonggi-do Province,... and were issued after the hourly average of PM 10 fine dust particles in the area reached 50 micrograms per cubic meter.
Public sector workers in the area were only allowed to drive a car to work if its license plate ends in an odd number.
And diesel cars registered before January 1st, 2006 and weighing over 2-point-5 tons were banned from the roads in Seoul during this period.
The Seoul government also temporarily closed 456 public parking lots.
Thermal power plants that emit fine dust ran at just 80 percent capacity.
As of Wednesday 8 a.m., the same measures also came into effect in most of Chungcheongnam-do Province... along with the same restrictions on driving.
Factories there that emit fine dust were asked to reduce their operating hours.
On the same day, an ultra-fine dust advisory was in place for a total of 8 cities and counties in Jeollabuk-do Province... and for a total of 12 cities and counties in Jeollanam-do Province.
The authorities have advised citizens to use protective masks when outdoors and cautioned those with health issues to stay indoors.
Choi Si-young, Arirang News.