These days , many people make a habit of checking the levels of fine dust in the air , as the country is often swept by a blanket of hazardous particulate materials . The air pollution problem has become a headache for President Park Geun - hye as people struggling with hazy air filled with harmful pollutants vent their anger against the government . Park called for a package of “ extraordinary ” measures to address the problem , and officials announced some measures -- they called them “ action plans ” -- last week . Regrettably , the measures fall far short of restoring confidence in the government ’ s ability and commitment to clean the air . The government announcement was highlighted by plans to increase use of environmentally friendly cars like electric vehicles and facilitate scrapping of decrepit diesel - driven automobiles . Altogether , the government plans to spend 5 trillion won ( $ 4 . 35 billion ) by 2020 on the endeavors . More specifically , people who scrap their old diesel cars and buy new ones will pay only 30 percent of the special excise tax levied for the purchase . More diesel buses will be replaced by those driven by compressed natural gas vehicles . Some of the plans , however , either are the same ones officials had mentioned previously , or lack details . Put simply , the measures are not substantial enough to allay the growing public concerns about air quality . For instance , few would agree that the plan to expand charging facilities to facilitate increase of electric vehicles -- which has long been a key part of the government ’ s efforts to foster the use of clean energy -- is an “ extraordinary ” step to deal with the fine dust problem . There were more half - baked plans as well , such as one to limit the entry of old diesel - powered vehicles into the Seoul metropolitan area . The only fact is that the local governments of Seoul , Gyeonggi Province and Incheon have agreed on the idea of setting a low - emissions zone , while detailed “ action plans ” have yet to be formulated . The plans to curb fine - dust emissions from coal - powered electricity generation plants also lacked detailed action programs , as they only outlined vague goals like the shutdown of plants that have been in operation for 30 years or more and toughening permissible emissions levels . Such mediocre measures fall far short of mitigating the concerns of residents in places like Seosan and Taean in the West Coast , where fine dust from nearby coal power generation plants poses serious environmental and health threats .   Clean air is a basic human need and the government has a duty to satisfy the need . Officials should come up with genuinely extraordinary measures . <ⓒ KoreaHerald ( www . koreaherald . com ) 무단 전재 및 재 배포 금지 >