Poor air quality caused more than 17,000 deaths in South Korea in 2017, more than 90 percent of which resulted from the onslaught of harmful PM2.5 particles, a study released by a US civic group showed.

The “State of Global Air 2019” report, published by the Health Effects Institute, revealed that about 17,300 people died from indoor and outdoor air pollution in Korea in 2017, up 23.5 percent from the 14,000 recorded in 1990.

In Korea, the death toll from air pollution decreased to 13,200 in 1995 before rising to 14,700 in 2000, 15,200 in 2005, 15,600 in 2010 and 17,000 in 2015.