[One Day Ten Thousand Steps] Nam Seong-hyeon, Korea Forest Service Chief: "Please Walk the Premium Forest Trails and Hug the Trees"

Nam Seong-hyun, the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service, recently posted a photo on his social media of himself participating in the ‘Tree Hugging (Tree Hughes)’ event in Gwangneung Forest, where the Korea National Arboretum is located, during his tenure as the Director of the National Institute of Forest Science. Commissioner Nam said, "Say ‘Thank you, tree!’ and give a hug to the trees growing around you." He encouraged people to feel gratitude by hugging trees at least one day a year. He added, "I am happy today because mountains, trees, and forests are always by our side, and it is even more so because there are trees that give generously."

In an earlier message supporting the ‘One Day 10,000 Steps, One Thousand Characters a Day’ campaign, Commissioner Nam said, "The Korea Forest Service is implementing various policies so that citizens can maintain their health and enjoy contemplation while walking forest trails." He introduced, "We designate and manage 11,000 routes totaling over 42,000 km of forest trails nationwide, and in September last year, we also started creating the 849 km East-West Trail connecting the eastern and western parts of the Korean Peninsula." He continued, "We are working hard to make it easy for anyone to access forests by creating various facilities such as arboretums, gardens, recreational forests, forest bathing sites, and healing forests close to urban areas. We will also provide various information such as recommended forest trails and forests ideal for walking."

Nam Seong-hyeon, the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service, is hugging a tree while attending the Tree Hug event during his tenure as the Director of the National Institute of Forest Science.
[Photo by Korea Forest Service]

Commissioner Nam introduced the ‘30 Premium Forest Trails for Walking’ selected by the Korea Forest Service to commemorate the 50th anniversary of national land greening. He said, "We selected premium forest trails that are accessible and allow for about a day’s hike, with high forest ecological, historical, and cultural value, and naturally well-developed forest paths that citizens can easily and comfortably use." The top-rated trail, ‘Inje Birch Forest (Dalmaji Forest Trail),’ allows visitors to observe birch trees lining a naturally formed trail along a small valley. The excellent trail, ‘Sutmor Cypress Forest Trail,’ located at an altitude of 600?700 meters on the slopes of Hallasan Mountain, offers a chance to observe primitive vegetation, making it highly valuable ecologically. The ‘Baekyangsan Nadeul Forest Trail’ features gentle slopes and well-maintained facilities, making it suitable even for beginner hikers. The ‘Mansusan Barrier-Free Forest Trail’ and ‘Ansan Circular Barrier-Free Ridge Trail’ are designed for comfortable walking by people with disabilities, the elderly, pregnant women, and are stroller-friendly.

Nam Seong-hyun, the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service, is hiking with citizens.
[Photo by Korea Forest Service]

Forests are evolving beyond spaces for rest into places for health and psychological recovery. According to a survey conducted by the Korea Forest Service and the Korea Forest Welfare Institute targeting 3,885 people including COVID-19 medical staff and personnel involved in quarantine and wildfire suppression, emotional stability scores improved from 60.03 before participation to 78.71 after participation, showing a 31% improvement. Stress levels decreased from 38.93 to 19.27, a 49% improvement.

The effects of forest healing vary depending on the forest. The National Institute of Forest Science analyzed 8,000 existing studies on forest healing effects and found that forests with 400 to 800 trees per hectare showed various combined forest healing effects on the human body. Within this range, the greatest effects were seen in alleviating negative emotions such as anxiety and anger and improving attention, as well as boosting vitality. The canopy density (the extent of branches and leaves) of the forest was also most effective for emotional improvement and attention recovery when it was around 50% to 80%. This means that overly dense forests reduce the effects. The lushness of trees and leaves in a forest influences visitors’ feelings of openness, comfort, relaxation, and aesthetic response. While dense forests evoke a grand sense of nature, excessive density can narrow the field of vision, hinder movement, threaten visitor safety, and interfere with immersion in nature. Conversely, forests with too few trees or overly open spaces may feel expansive but can become boring and monotonous, reducing forest healing effects.

Forest healing program by the Korea Forest Service
[Photo by Korea Forest Service]

To link forest healing experiences with the health lifestyle practice support points system, the Korea Forest Service signed a business agreement with the National Health Insurance Service in December last year. Participants in the preventive health lifestyle support program (in 15 regions) can experience forest healing at 10 ‘National Healing Forests,’ the ‘National Forest Healing Center,’ and 31 ‘Public Healing Forests’ nationwide, and submit a ‘Forest Healing Experience Certificate’ to the National Health Insurance Service to earn points. The health lifestyle practice support program provides points to citizens with health risk factors such as blood pressure and blood sugar identified in general health checkups when they engage in healthy activities like walking or forest healing experiences. The National Health Insurance Service has been piloting this program since July 29 last year in 24 regions nationwide (15 preventive and 9 management regions).

Commissioner Nam was born in 1958 in Nonsan, Chungnam Province. He graduated from Daejeon High School and the Department of Public Administration at Konkuk University and entered public service in July 1978 through the Grade 7 civil service exam. He worked for over 38 years at the Korea Forest Service, serving as section chief, director, and finally as director of the National Institute of Forest Science before leaving public office. He served as a special and invited professor at Kookmin University and Gyeongsang National University before being appointed as the first Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration on May 13, 2022. Commissioner Nam is changing forest policies in line with the shift in perception of forests from being just nature to valuable economic resources. This is the ‘Forest Renaissance.’