The air quality of movie theaters, exhibition halls, Internet cafes and private education institutes will be newly regulated, the government said Sunday, with fines to be issued for poor maintenance.

The Ministry of Environment will add the four types of public facilities to its list of places where indoor air quality must be regulated, the Environment Ministry said in its public notice of the rule change.

Under the indoor air quality regulation, owners or managers of public places are fined up to 3 million won ($2,595) from 500,000 won if air quality in their facilities falls below the guideline.

The guideline requires particulate matter, or fine particles smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter, to be maintained at below the 150-microgram-per-cubic-meter level while keeping the carbon dioxide level under 1,000 parts per million.

The rule also regulates the levels of formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and asbestos as well as ozone. 

(Yonhap News)