Preemptive fine dust reduction measures are being enforced for the first time this year in Seoul and the surrounding areas on Friday as fine dust concentration levels are forecast to be alarmingly high.
The Metropolitan Air Quality Management Office under the Environment Ministry said on Thursday that the reduction measures will be enforced from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province.
The preemptive measures are enforced in the public sector when emergency fine dust reduction measures are likely to be enforced the next day.
The fine dust levels in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province are forecast to surpass 50 micrograms per cubic meter on both Friday and Saturday, meeting the requirement for enforcing the preemptive measures.
Under such measures, public sector vehicles and those operated by public sector workers in the capital region will be subject to an alternating driving ban.
Public facilities that emit air pollutants have to adjust operations, while public construction sites are required to reduce or adjust their operations and take steps to curb dust emissions.
The ban on grade five emissions vehicles, the most polluting vehicles according to the government's five-tier system, will not be enforced.