Crackdown on Illegal Forest Activities Such as Valley Cooking and Facility Installation During Vacation Season

The Special Forest Judicial Police are cracking down on littering and the use of fire in the valley. Photo by Korea Forest Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korea Forest Service will crack down on illegal activities in forest valleys during the vacation season.

The Korea Forest Service announced on the 29th that it has designated the period from July 1 to August 31 as the "Special Forest Judicial Enforcement Period" to intensively crack down on illegal activities occurring in forests nationwide.

The main targets of the crackdown are illegal facilities such as tents, platforms, and water play facilities that damage or pollute forests, as well as acts such as cooking and littering. The Korea Forest Service will also simultaneously crack down on unregistered camping facilities and other illegal camping sites.

If illegal activities are detected during the crackdown, strict punishment will be imposed according to relevant laws. The "Mountainous Districts Management Act" stipulates that if mountainous areas are converted without permission to create recreational facilities, a maximum imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to 50 million KRW can be imposed.

Additionally, the "Forest Protection Act" imposes fines of up to 1 million KRW for dumping waste or trash in forests, lighting fires or bringing fire into forests or adjacent areas, and fines of up to 300,000 KRW for smoking in forests.

During the same period last year, the Korea Forest Service and local governments conducted intensive crackdowns, detecting 1,185 cases of illegal activities in forests and taking judicial and administrative actions on a total of 1,304 cases.

Lee Hyun-joo, head of the Forest Environment Protection Division at the Korea Forest Service, said, "The Korea Forest Service plans to strictly punish illegal activities and improve wrongful practices such as unauthorized occupation of valleys during the vacation season," adding, "We ask for the public's cooperation to establish a proper forest protection culture."