SmogRank / Episodes / South Korea
South Korea, January 2026
For 1 day, on 4 January 2026, 22 cities in South Korea had PM2.5 at least twice their usual for the time of year. The worst reading was Jeongeup, Jeollabuk-do, South Korea: 39.7 µg/m³ on 4 January, about 2.4× its usual 16.5.
No cause named We have no fire or smoke records for these days, so we only say what the measurements show.
Cities reached 22 in 1 country
Days 1 4 January 2026
Worst day 4 January 22 cities counted
Furthest above usual 3.1× Sinan
Day by day
Play 4 January 22 cities at twice their usual or more
Okcheon Yeongdong Kinzan Daejeon Cheongju-si Gimcheon Sejong Sangju Jungpyong Koesan Gongju Yŏnmu Nonsan Mungyeong Chinch'ŏn Wanju Jeonju Gumi Namsa Cheonan Buyeo Chungju Iksan Waegwan Asan Seonghwan Anseong Yecheon Kimje Kunwi Yesan Pyeongtaek Hwawŏn Gunsan Daegu Yeoju Icheon-si Pubal Hongseong Kurye Boryeong Osan Changnyeong Andong Yeongju Wŏnju Chinju Gyeongsan-si Hadong Hayang Tangjin Gwangju Suwon Neietsu Yangp'yŏng Hwaseong-si Kwangyang Seongnam-si Gwangyang Seosan Naesŏ Miryang Gwangju Anyang-si Ansan-si Hanam Masan Wabu Cheongsong gun Guri-si Hwado Goseong Beolgyo Changwon Namyangju Hongch’ŏn Gwangmyeong Seoul Yeosu Yeonggwang Bucheon-si Incheon Naju Kimhae Boseong Tongyeong Uijeongbu-si T’aebaek Chuncheon Goyang-si Gimpo-si Yeonil Sinhyeon Yangju Pohang Muan Busan Ulsan Munsan Hwacheon Yanggu Ganghwa-gun Santyoku Mokpo Gangneung Donghae City Haenam Cheorwon Jumunjin Sokcho Kosong Tsushima Koga Nakama Kitakyushu Shimonoseki Nagato Mine Onoda Hagi Ube Yamaguchi Masuda Hōfu Hamada Shūnan Gōtsuchō Kudamatsu Hikari Ōdachō-ōda Ōtake Yanai Iwakuni Yae Hiroshima Gion Kure Ungsang Hwasun Buan Yangsan Eisen Jangseong Changsu Imsil Gapyeong Gijang Gyeongju Nangen Damyang Yeongam Geoje Jeongeup Suncheon Taesal-li Jinan-gun Koch'ang Jangheung Sinan 1 Jan 2 3 4 5 6 7 Every measured city in the area, coloured by its PM2.5 that day; a dark ring marks a city at twice its usual or more. Bars: cities counted each day, coloured by their median level. Choose a day or press play; without JavaScript, the days link to that day's world ranking.
How it spread
Jeongeup Jeongeup, 1 January: 13.5 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Jeongeup, 2 January: 10.6 µg/m³, 0.6× usual Jeongeup, 3 January: 14.7 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Jeongeup, 4 January: 39.7 µg/m³, 2.4× usual Jeongeup, 5 January: 26.3 µg/m³, 1.6× usual Jeongeup, 6 January: 16.3 µg/m³, 1.0× usual Jeongeup, 7 January: 18.5 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Buan Buan, 1 January: 9.4 µg/m³, 0.5× usual Buan, 2 January: 8.8 µg/m³, 0.5× usual Buan, 3 January: 15.7 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Buan, 4 January: 38.1 µg/m³, 2.1× usual Buan, 5 January: 23.4 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Buan, 6 January: 19.4 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Buan, 7 January: 20.2 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Koch'ang Koch'ang, 1 January: 7.4 µg/m³, 0.5× usual Koch'ang, 2 January: 7.3 µg/m³, 0.5× usual Koch'ang, 3 January: 10.8 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Koch'ang, 4 January: 37.2 µg/m³, 2.6× usual Koch'ang, 5 January: 17.4 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Koch'ang, 6 January: 10.3 µg/m³, 0.7× usual Koch'ang, 7 January: 13.6 µg/m³, 1.0× usual Nangen Nangen, 1 January: 6.8 µg/m³, 0.4× usual Nangen, 2 January: 6.8 µg/m³, 0.4× usual Nangen, 3 January: 11.1 µg/m³, 0.6× usual Nangen, 4 January: 37.2 µg/m³, 2.2× usual Nangen, 5 January: 20.1 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Nangen, 6 January: 10.9 µg/m³, 0.6× usual Nangen, 7 January: 17.4 µg/m³, 1.0× usual Changsu Changsu, 1 January: 7.2 µg/m³, 0.4× usual Changsu, 2 January: 7.4 µg/m³, 0.5× usual Changsu, 3 January: 13.6 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Changsu, 4 January: 36.1 µg/m³, 2.2× usual Changsu, 5 January: 18.9 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Changsu, 6 January: 11.5 µg/m³, 0.7× usual Changsu, 7 January: 23.3 µg/m³, 1.4× usual Jinan-gun Jinan-gun, 1 January: 7.9 µg/m³, 0.6× usual Jinan-gun, 2 January: 7.1 µg/m³, 0.5× usual Jinan-gun, 3 January: 12.7 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Jinan-gun, 4 January: 35.5 µg/m³, 2.6× usual Jinan-gun, 5 January: 18.5 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Jinan-gun, 6 January: 11.7 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Jinan-gun, 7 January: 19.5 µg/m³, 1.4× usual Imsil Imsil, 1 January: 6.3 µg/m³, 0.4× usual Imsil, 2 January: 7.0 µg/m³, 0.4× usual Imsil, 3 January: 11.7 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Imsil, 4 January: 34.4 µg/m³, 2.2× usual Imsil, 5 January: 18.7 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Imsil, 6 January: 10.5 µg/m³, 0.7× usual Imsil, 7 January: 17.4 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Gapyeong Gapyeong, 1 January: 10.0 µg/m³, 0.7× usual Gapyeong, 2 January: 13.3 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Gapyeong, 3 January: 24.1 µg/m³, 1.6× usual Gapyeong, 4 January: 33.5 µg/m³, 2.2× usual Gapyeong, 5 January: 20.4 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Gapyeong, 6 January: 22.3 µg/m³, 1.5× usual Gapyeong, 7 January: 21.2 µg/m³, 1.4× usual Yeongam Yeongam, 1 January: 4.5 µg/m³, 0.3× usual Yeongam, 2 January: 8.7 µg/m³, 0.6× usual Yeongam, 3 January: 11.6 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Yeongam, 4 January: 31.9 µg/m³, 2.3× usual Yeongam, 5 January: 38.7 µg/m³, 2.8× usual Yeongam, 6 January: no reading Yeongam, 7 January: no reading Damyang Damyang, 1 January: 2.1 µg/m³, 0.1× usual Damyang, 2 January: 3.7 µg/m³, 0.3× usual Damyang, 3 January: 7.3 µg/m³, 0.5× usual Damyang, 4 January: 31.8 µg/m³, 2.2× usual Damyang, 5 January: 19.2 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Damyang, 6 January: 6.6 µg/m³, 0.5× usual Damyang, 7 January: 12.2 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Gyeongju Gyeongju, 1 January: 6.2 µg/m³, 0.4× usual Gyeongju, 2 January: 8.3 µg/m³, 0.6× usual Gyeongju, 3 January: 14.1 µg/m³, 1.0× usual Gyeongju, 4 January: 30.8 µg/m³, 2.2× usual Gyeongju, 5 January: 12.0 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Gyeongju, 6 January: 10.0 µg/m³, 0.7× usual Gyeongju, 7 January: 18.8 µg/m³, 1.4× usual Gijang Gijang, 1 January: 5.3 µg/m³, 0.4× usual Gijang, 2 January: 6.7 µg/m³, 0.5× usual Gijang, 3 January: 11.0 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Gijang, 4 January: 30.4 µg/m³, 2.2× usual Gijang, 5 January: 15.5 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Gijang, 6 January: 10.1 µg/m³, 0.7× usual Gijang, 7 January: 20.1 µg/m³, 1.5× usual Eisen Eisen, 1 January: 5.1 µg/m³, 0.4× usual Eisen, 2 January: 7.3 µg/m³, 0.5× usual Eisen, 3 January: 12.0 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Eisen, 4 January: 29.9 µg/m³, 2.1× usual Eisen, 5 January: 11.6 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Eisen, 6 January: 10.1 µg/m³, 0.7× usual Eisen, 7 January: 16.5 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Suncheon Suncheon, 1 January: 5.8 µg/m³, 0.5× usual Suncheon, 2 January: 7.0 µg/m³, 0.6× usual Suncheon, 3 January: 11.9 µg/m³, 1.0× usual Suncheon, 4 January: 29.7 µg/m³, 2.4× usual Suncheon, 5 January: 14.6 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Suncheon, 6 January: 5.5 µg/m³, 0.4× usual Suncheon, 7 January: 17.6 µg/m³, 1.4× usual Jangseong Jangseong, 1 January: 6.2 µg/m³, 0.4× usual Jangseong, 2 January: 5.6 µg/m³, 0.4× usual Jangseong, 3 January: 9.8 µg/m³, 0.7× usual Jangseong, 4 January: 29.7 µg/m³, 2.2× usual Jangseong, 5 January: 19.5 µg/m³, 1.4× usual Jangseong, 6 January: 8.3 µg/m³, 0.6× usual Jangseong, 7 January: 13.4 µg/m³, 1.0× usual Jangheung Jangheung, 1 January: 3.5 µg/m³, 0.3× usual Jangheung, 2 January: 6.1 µg/m³, 0.6× usual Jangheung, 3 January: 9.2 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Jangheung, 4 January: 29.2 µg/m³, 2.8× usual Jangheung, 5 January: 16.4 µg/m³, 1.6× usual Jangheung, 6 January: 5.9 µg/m³, 0.6× usual Jangheung, 7 January: 19.6 µg/m³, 1.9× usual Geoje Geoje, 1 January: 4.4 µg/m³, 0.4× usual Geoje, 2 January: 8.5 µg/m³, 0.7× usual Geoje, 3 January: 10.8 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Geoje, 4 January: 28.0 µg/m³, 2.3× usual Geoje, 5 January: 17.6 µg/m³, 1.5× usual Geoje, 6 January: 8.7 µg/m³, 0.7× usual Geoje, 7 January: 24.1 µg/m³, 2.0× usual Ungsang Ungsang, 1 January: 6.2 µg/m³, 0.5× usual Ungsang, 2 January: 6.3 µg/m³, 0.5× usual Ungsang, 3 January: 12.3 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Ungsang, 4 January: 27.6 µg/m³, 2.0× usual Ungsang, 5 January: 12.4 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Ungsang, 6 January: 11.6 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Ungsang, 7 January: 16.9 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Yangsan Yangsan, 1 January: 5.3 µg/m³, 0.4× usual Yangsan, 2 January: 7.3 µg/m³, 0.6× usual Yangsan, 3 January: 10.3 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Yangsan, 4 January: 27.5 µg/m³, 2.1× usual Yangsan, 5 January: 15.6 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Yangsan, 6 January: 13.0 µg/m³, 1.0× usual Yangsan, 7 January: 19.3 µg/m³, 1.5× usual Sinan Sinan, 1 January: 5.3 µg/m³, 0.6× usual Sinan, 2 January: 6.0 µg/m³, 0.7× usual Sinan, 3 January: 9.8 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Sinan, 4 January: 26.1 µg/m³, 3.1× usual Sinan, 5 January: 15.2 µg/m³, 1.8× usual Sinan, 6 January: 7.2 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Sinan, 7 January: 30.7 µg/m³, 3.6× usual Taesal-li Taesal-li, 1 January: 6.0 µg/m³, 0.6× usual Taesal-li, 2 January: 10.4 µg/m³, 1.0× usual Taesal-li, 3 January: 12.5 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Taesal-li, 4 January: 25.6 µg/m³, 2.5× usual Taesal-li, 5 January: 13.6 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Taesal-li, 6 January: 11.9 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Taesal-li, 7 January: 23.9 µg/m³, 2.4× usual Hwasun Hwasun, 1 January: 7.0 µg/m³, 0.5× usual Hwasun, 2 January: 8.2 µg/m³, 0.6× usual Hwasun, 3 January: 14.2 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Hwasun, 4 January: 25.5 µg/m³, 2.0× usual Hwasun, 5 January: 11.9 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Hwasun, 6 January: 9.9 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Hwasun, 7 January: 13.3 µg/m³, 1.0× usual 1 Jan 2 3 4 5 6 7 Every counted city, in the order the episode reached them, 3 days before to 3 after. Each square is a day, coloured by that day's PM2.5; outlined: at twice the city's usual or more. Good 0–50
Moderate 51–100
Sensitive groups 101–150
Unhealthy 151–200
Very unhealthy 201–300
Hazardous 301+
Every city it reached
City Days Highest Usual Above usual
Sinan Jeollanam-do, South Korea 1 7 January 8.5 3.6× Jangheung Jeollanam-do, South Korea 1 4 January 10.3 2.8× Yeongam Jeollanam-do, South Korea 1 5 January 13.8 2.8× Koch'ang Jeollabuk-do, South Korea 1 4 January 14.3 2.6× Jinan-gun Jeollabuk-do, South Korea 1 4 January 13.9 2.6× Taesal-li Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea 1 4 January 10.1 2.5× Suncheon Jeollanam-do, South Korea 1 4 January 12.3 2.4× Jeongeup Jeollabuk-do, South Korea 1 4 January 16.5 2.4× Geoje Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea 1 4 January 12.1 2.3× Gyeongju Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea 1 4 January 13.8 2.2× Damyang Jeollanam-do, South Korea 1 4 January 14.3 2.2× Imsil Jeollabuk-do, South Korea 1 4 January 15.6 2.2× Gijang Busan, South Korea 1 4 January 13.8 2.2× Changsu Jeollabuk-do, South Korea 1 4 January 16.4 2.2× Gapyeong Gyeonggi-do, South Korea 1 4 January 15.3 2.2× Nangen Jeollabuk-do, South Korea 1 4 January 17.2 2.2× Jangseong Jeollanam-do, South Korea 1 4 January 13.8 2.2× Yangsan Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea 1 4 January 12.8 2.1× Buan Jeollabuk-do, South Korea 1 4 January 18.4 2.1× Eisen Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea 1 4 January 14.5 2.1× Ungsang Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea 1 4 January 13.6 2.0× Hwasun Jeollanam-do, South Korea 1 4 January 12.8 2.0×
Daily means in µg/m³. Usual: the city's median for this time of year (its days within 21 days of the date, every year, leaving out the week around it). Above usual: its highest day against that.
Against other episodes in South Korea
Number 33 of 43 episodes in South Korea since our records began, by cities reached.
Japan and South Korea, March 2025 454 Japan and South Korea, March 2026 305 Japan and South Korea, January 2025 274 Japan and South Korea, February and March 2025 192 South Korea and Japan, January 2026 169 South Korea and Japan, February 2026 147 South Korea, February 2025 132 South Korea, November 2025 128 South Korea, February 2026 121 South Korea, December 2025 113 South Korea, January 2025 113 South Korea, December 2025 107 South Korea, January 2026 22 Bars: cities reached; colour: the level of the episode's highest daily reading. All 43 .
Use this page SmogRank, South Korea, January 2026: 22 cities with PM2.5 at twice their usual or more, 4 January 2026, smogrank.com/episodes/2026-01-south-korea (accessed 2 October 2026).
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You're welcome to reuse a single chart, image or figure with this citation and a link. Terms .
An episode is a run of days when many cities close to each other (four or more within 350 km on a day, 8 or more in all) each had a daily PM2.5 mean of at least 25 µg/m³ and at least 2 times their usual for that time of year. Found in our own measurements, not picked by hand. How we find episodes . Values are each city's daily mean of its own monitors; causes are the usual kinds for a pattern like this, not a confirmed source.
