Health-related social cost from yellow dust in South Korea

Yellow dust is a typical transboundary environmental problem in Asia. South Korea is geographically very close to the source regions where yellow dust originates. A lot of research on the impact of yellow dust has been conducted in South Korea, primarily by natural scientists, focusing on its chemical compositions and its effect on water, air, and soil quality, etc. However, relatively few studies have been conducted on the social cost from yellow dust, particularly the health-related social cost. In the above context, this paper aims at analyzing health-related social cost from yellow dust in South Korea. In order to achieve the objective, this paper will be organized into five sections as follows.

Section 1: Two things will be introduced. One is the definition of yellow, and the other is when and how often yellow dust has occurred recently in South Korea.

Section 2: The concept of social cost will be explained in relation to human health, and then the analytic targets to be included in estimating the health-related social cost will be explained. The examples of the latter are the direct and indirect cost including loss of life and quality of life, direct medical cost, indirect economic loss (e.g. decrease in productivity, etc.), public financial burden, and external cost, etc.

Section 3: The methodologies to estimate health-related social cost will be introduced, following two phases. They are the analytical steps of health-related social cost and the methodologies for estimating health-related social cost. The examples of methodology include Integration of Environmental-Economic Evaluation Technique (IEEET), Input-Output Analysis (IOA), Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), Benefit Transfer Method (BTM), and Disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY), etc.

Section 4: Some empirical researches that have estimated the health-related social cost caused by yellow dust in South Korea will be introduced. An important finding from the empirical researches is that the social cost estimated are different depending on the methodology to be used. What the differences imply will be discussed.

5. Concluding Remarks: Three agendas will be discussed. One is to examine the implications of industrialization which has been promoted for improving material affluence and convenient life since the 18th century, because industrialization has been the main source of environmental problems including yellow dust. Another one is the strategies on reducing health-related social cost from yellow dust. The other one is to examine the validity and reliability of the existing methodologies for estimating health-related social cost from yellow dust.

Prof. and Dr. Dai-Yeun Jeong is presently the Director of Asia Climate Change Education Center and an emeritus professor at Jeju National University in South Korea where he served as an environmental professor from 1981 until his retirement in 2012. He received BA and MA degree in sociology from Korea University (South Korea), and PhD in environmental sociology from the University of Queensland (Australia). Throughout his distinguished career, he has held key leadership and advisory roles, including President of the Asia-Pacific Sociological Association, Teaching Professor at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom, and the Acting Director of the Jeju Secretariat for the UNESCO World Network of Island and Coastal Biosphere Reserves. He has also contributed to national policy as a member of the Presidential Commission on Sustainable Development of the Republic of Korea, and as Research Associate of the Environmental Policy Commission for Sustainable Development at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea. He has represented the South Korean government delegate as a delegate to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and to the OECD Environmental Meetings. An esteemed academic and researcher, he is the author of 13 books including Environmental Sociology, and has published 60 academic papers in both domestic and international journals. He has conducted over 100 environmental research projects supported by domestic and international organizations.