Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Conduct Intensive Crackdown on Illegal Activities in Forests

Gyeonggi Province will intensively crack down on illegal activities within forests.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Special Judicial Police announced on the 9th that from the 22nd of this month until the 3rd of next month, they will conduct a crackdown on illegal forest activities such as unauthorized forest land use changes, land use alterations, and unlicensed logging within the province.

The Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police previously analyzed 86,656 suspected forest damage parcels (15,560 hectares, equivalent to 14,867 soccer fields) received from the Korea Forest Service by comparing aerial photographs and other data.

The Gyeonggi-do Special Judicial Police Unit will conduct a focused crackdown on illegal activities within the province's forests until the 3rd of next month.

The main items subject to crackdown include ▲ changing the terrain of forest land without permission ▲ installing illegal facilities such as containers, structures, or livestock barns without permission ▲ logging or extracting trees or forest products without permission or reporting.

Hong Eun-gi, head of the Special Judicial Police, emphasized, "Indiscriminate forest damage causes disaster and hazard problems and harms valuable assets for future generations," adding, "We will take strict measures against detected illegal activities."

Meanwhile, since 2021, the Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police have investigated illegal activities within forests annually, cracking down on 71 cases (62,285㎡) in 2021, 53 cases (20,721㎡) in 2022, and 20 cases (11,050㎡) in 2023.