Korean Job Discussion Forums

[v88]

Just wondering what people think of the air pollution here. Obviously it sucks. But I'm wondering what people know about it.

I know even though Korea has strict policies regarding the import of cars into Korea in order to protect the air of Korea that cars built for the Korean market do not meet the standards of most other developed nations. Korean cars made for the American market are held to much higher standards.

I know the dense population here also makes for increased air pollution. But I thought the much lower rate of ownership would have offset that.

Why is Seoul air so bad? Are the buses really as bad as they seem? Is the fuel lower quality? What are the health risks of living here?

Just curious.

[T-J]

If you stay, you will die. You should go.

[brento1138]

One day I was in bed, sleeping, and awoke to smell a strong petrol smell in my apartment. It was quite strong smelling, as if there was a running car inside my apartment.

Turns out that there was so much carbon (black stuff) on my window grate that when the rain started, it got on the window grate, got it wet, and that made my entire room smell like gasoline.

Every now and then, I take a rag and clean my window and the area around it. What I get is a thick blackish gray dust which completely covers the rag, thick enough to create an almost cakey appearance.

Yeah, that's Seoul pollution for ya.

People don't come here for the air.

[orosee]

[Nolan Ryan]

When you walk through your "dong", take note of how many cars are stopped along the side of the road with their engines running and a guy either on a phone, yapping loudly and listening to his "ballad" music, or sleeping in his seat...Personally, I like to knock on the cars with the sleepers!

[v88]

I recently read that Korea's PM10 count was about twice that of other developed nations (although Japan isn't that much better..probably a density issue, because I know they have strict regulations for cars). That's not terribly bad considering how fast it has developed and how much worse other countries like China and India are.

But despite that I still find so much more filth on everything when I leave the windows open (as brento mentioned). During the dry season the roads and sidewalks are so filthy that I have to wash my dog's feet after a 5 minute walk outside. There must be some very drastic differences between winter and summer PM10 counts.

Every now and then I get bored and try to look this stuff up but generally don't find the information I'm looking for...except for loads of news paper articles that go on and on about the huge changes being made. Koreans seem to be masters of not airing their dirty laundry in public and booster-ism. Not that they haven't made great changes, it's just that the articles often state things that don't always come to fruition or over exaggerate their importance. I've had better luck getting good articles about air pollution in Kathmandu than I have for Seoul.

Just wondering if anyone had better material...suppose Dave's isn't the place for that...

[Ruby Thursday]

[Gorf]

Honestly why anyone would open their windows in such humid, polluted city is beyond me. It's like opening your windows in L.A., there's no point.

[qcat79]

i get that black grimy crap in my window sill too and i don't even live in seoul. it's everywhere and coming to get us.

[Speedling]

Is the air really that bad? I haven't really noticed

[World Traveler]

[Nolan Ryan]

[Captain Corea]

[T-J]

[Captain Corea]

Thanks. Downloading now.