South Korea: Light-duty: Emissions

Overview

 * Standard type: Conventional pollution emission limits
 * Regulating body: Ministry of Environment
 * Current standard:
 * Gasoline - California's NMOG (Non Methane Organic Gases) FAS (Fleet Average System)
 * Diesel - Euro 5


 * Future standard: Diesel - Euro 6 in 2014
 * Applicability: New and existing passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles less than 3.5 tons (3500kg)

History
South Korea has regulated emissions from motor vehicles for over two decades. Major updates to emissions standards occurred in 2000, 2002, 2006, 2009, and 2013. In 2009, South Korea adopted California's Non Methane Organic Gases (NMOG) Fleet Average System (FAS) for gasoline-fueled vehicles. This FAS enables car manufacturers to have a range of models with different emissions levels. However, each carmaker's fleet is required to meet a prescribed level of NMOG emissions on average. This average level of emissions is lowered over time. The timeline of average emissions standards is shown below in the technical standards section.

Diesel vehicle emissions standards follow the European precedent. As of 2002, emissions standards were equivalent with Euro 3. Emissions improvements have accelerated since then. In 2006, emissions for diesel vehicles were equivalent to Euro 4 until 2009, when the Euro 5 level was adopted. In 2014, diesel emissions will be regulated under Euro 6 limit values.

Limit values are established through the Clean Air Conservation Act Enforcement Rules (대기환경보전법 시행규칙), available at the Atmospheric Preservation Standards section of the website of the Ministry of Environment (Korean only).

Gasoline Vehicles
Petrol and gas-fueled vehicles are subject to California's NMOG (Non-Methane Organic Gases) FAS (Fleet Average System). In the FAS, carmakers can choose one of four standards, each with different levels of emissions standards. The standards are functionally equivalent to California's LEV, ULEV, SULEV and ZEV categories, although in South Korea they are referred to as Standards 1-4.

While carmakers can choose one of the four standards mentioned above for each model, the average emissions of a carmaker's fleet should not exceed the specified limit values for each year. These values are listed below for each year up to 2015.

Diesel Vehicles
Diesel vehicles are currently subject to Euro 5 standards. In January 2014, new vehicles will be subject to Euro 6 regulations.

Regulatory Documents

 * The Clean Air Conservation Act Enforcement Rules (대기환경보전법 시행규칙), which includes limit values, is currently only available in Korean. This document can be found in this list of Atmospheric Preservation Standards (in Korean).
 * Clean Air Conservation Act (대기환경보전법)
 * Enforcement Decree of the Clean Air Conservation Act (대기환경보전법 시행령)