Pollution caused by fine-particle dust appears to have engulfed Pyongyang and especially southern parts of North Korea, data published by air quality tracking websites showed on Wednesday.

The toxic conditions come amid days of severe air pollution in neighboring South Korea, which since last Friday has been regularly classed as reaching “very unhealthy” levels by the World Air Quality Index project.

But while citizens in the neighboring South routinely protect their lungs and throats by wearing masks, multiple residents of the DPRK capital told NK News that they had not observed similar behavior in Pyongyang this week.

“Locals here (are) not wearing masks,” one resident said, noting that pollution levels had been even been recorded at “hazardous” levels in Pyongyang in recent days.

“I’m familiar with the masks in Seoul, but I’ve never seen them here, even during the yellow dust season,” another resident said.

And while rain overnight and winds had cleared the situation somewhat by Wednesday, the first resident explained, air quality was nevertheless defined as “unhealthy” on Wednesday at Berkley Earth’s Air Pollution tracker – with AQI levels as high at about 165 in Pyongyang.

The AirVisual website, meanwhile, depicted a large band of pollution stretching from southeastern China over the entire Korean peninsula on Wednesday afternoon, with AQI levels at their worst near the North’s border with South Korea.

“Good” AQI levels are considered between 0-50, with “moderate” between 51-100, the AirNow website shows.

Simon Cockerell, a regular visitor to North Korea and General Manager of Koryo Tours, said that North Koreans typically only wear masks if they have a cold.

“I don’t think I have seen anyone wearing masks in North Korea to protect against pollution,” he told NK News.

“Comparably to the neighbors there isn’t much air pollution to speak of though, but if you live next to a site of heavy industry then the air will be dirty of course.”

But while air pollution websites show the DPRK to be significantly impacted by the current atmospheric conditions, “North Korean state media has not yet directly mentioned any damage from the rising levels of microdust in the country,” NK Pro analyst Minyoung Lee said on Wednesday.

The Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) has previously shown North Korean awareness of the issue, reporting in November 2017 that “automatic instruments for measuring sulfurous acid gas and floating dust have been installed in Samjiyon County.”

In addition, “Pyongyang radio in recent months have started providing microdust warnings during its weather forecasts, urging people to wear masks on days where high levels of dust were projected,” Lee said.

Overall, she added, “state media’s coverage of microdust has increased noticeably since early 2016, with the party daily reporting on negative effects of microdust and efforts being made in foreign countries to overcome the problems.”

Edited by Oliver Hotham

Featured image: Pyongyang chimney, NK News archive