AKIPRESS.COM - Beijing and Seoul signed a cooperation agreement on Thursday to jointly tackle air pollution, Xinhua reported.

The agreement was reached after a meeting between Beijing mayor Wang Anshun and visiting mayor of Seoul Park Won-soon.

Park said a team would be established within a joint committee in charge of economic and cultural exchanges between Beijing and Seoul.

Park also visited a Beijing pollutant observatory and attended a forum on air quality with officials and experts from both countries.

Heavy smog has been frequent in the Chinese capital since February, and skies in neighbors Tianjin and Hebei are hardly any bluer. Beijing has thrown around $1.29 billion at the air quality problem since last year, according to Mayor Wang.

Over 100 million people live in the three regions, with a combined area of 216,000 square kilometers.