"Damage to Tree Planted in Memory of Former County Head Oh Gyuseok Was a Misunderstanding" ... Busan Gijang-gun Jeonggwan-eup Issues Official Statement

Incident During Tree Pruning at Government Office Last September

"Not Intentional Damage but Environmental Improvement Work"

Plan to Safely Manage Ducheong Tree Growth

Busan Gijang-gun Jeonggwan-eup has issued an official statement clarifying that the reports by some media outlets claiming that commemorative trees were damaged to erase traces of the former county governor were misunderstandings arising during environmental improvement efforts.

On the 15th, the Jeonggwan-eup Administrative Welfare Center (Eupjang Song Young-jong) dismissed the allegations of damage to the former county governor's commemorative trees, stating, "It was simply an incident that occurred during the process of improving the office environment."

Jeonggwan-eup explained that some landscaping trees on the premises were obstructing external bulletin boards and signboards, damaging the office's aesthetics, and were located adjacent to the civil petitioners' parking lot, raising concerns about potential damage during disasters such as typhoons. Therefore, in September of last year, temporary workers were employed to maintain the trees within the office grounds.

They emphasized that although the commemorative trees were pruned more than usual during this process, there was absolutely no intentional pruning with any ulterior motive.

They also expressed serious concern about unnecessary suspicions arising ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections in April.

Song Young-jong, head of Jeonggwan-eup, said, "It is very embarrassing that an issue that occurred simply during last year's office environment maintenance has become a controversy belatedly," adding, "We will pay closer attention to various administrative tasks in the future to prevent unnecessary misunderstandings in advance."

The affected tree is a Duzhong tree, mainly used as an herbal medicine, and is known to be a fast-growing species. Jeonggwan-eup conveyed its commitment to managing the tree so that it can grow safely in harmony with the office environment.