Old diesel cars to be restricted in Seoul starting next year

SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s environment ministry and the Seoul city government signed an agreement Thursday to implement restrictions on old diesel cars that have often been cited for generating fine dust.

Under the new regulations, cars that were registered before 2005 and do not have fine dust reduction devices attached will be prohibited from operating in Seoul starting next year if they do not go through a general inspection or have failed to obtain approval.

Vehicles that are ordered to take measures to lower pollution will also be restricted from operation if they do not carry out corrective measures within six months, according to the government.

The city of Incheon, west of Seoul, and Gyeonggi Province, surrounding the capital city, have joined the agreement to implement similar measures in 2018.

The government said the total number of diesel-powered vehicles to be affected by the new plan hovers around 1 million.

The amount of fine dust generated by these old diesel cars is more than eight times what is produced by recent models sold since 2015, according to the government.

Those who drive cars that have been prohibited from operating will be fined 200,000 won, the government said.