South Korea's Environment Ministry has refuted China's claims that its air pollution problem has had little effect on causing fine dust in the South.
A high-ranking ministry official said Monday that it is general knowledge that due to winds blowing from the west in the northern hemisphere, South Korea's atmospheric conditions are heavily affected by China during the fall and winter seasons.
The official said despite China claiming its air quality has improved, the level of fine dust remains a lot higher than in South Korea with annual averages of 23 micrograms per cubic meter in Seoul and 51 micrograms per cubic meter in Beijing.
Earlier on Monday, a Chinese environment ministry official urged South Korea to focus on improving its air condition, rather than placing blame on China.
The official said Beijing has managed to reduce more than 40 percent of air pollutants between 2013 and 2018, while air quality has remained the same or even worsened in South Korea.
South Korea plans to make strong arguments against China's position during the two sides' three-day meetings on environmental cooperation in Seoul starting Tuesday.