South Korea's air pollutant emission-cap management system, which has been enforced in Seoul since 2008 to manage the capital's air quality, will be expanded to cover almost all parts of the country this week, the Ministry of Environment said Thursday.

The emission-cap system allocates yearly emission allowances to workplaces, every five years, that emit large amounts of air pollutants.

The ministry said the emission-cap management system will be expanded to include the central regions comprising North and South Chungcheong, the southwestern regions comprising North and South Jeolla and Gwangju and the southeastern regions comprising North and South Gyeongsang, beginning Friday, when the revision of the Special Act on the Improvement of Air Quality takes effect.

As a result, major industrial emitters in almost all regions of the country, excluding Gangwon and Jeju provinces, will be regulated by the emission-cap management system, the ministry explained.

In addition, industrial emitters regulated by the new emission-cap system are obliged to install a smokestack tele-monitoring device designed to constantly monitor the amount of their air pollutants, it added.

The affected regions will also have to reinforce measures to suppress emissions from automobiles and construction machinery.

Starting April 2023, diesel vehicles will be banned from being used as children's school buses or small courier trucks in those regions. (Yonhap)