<기사제목>Forest Service Extends Special Pine Wilt Disease Control Period Until the End of Next Month

The Korea Forest Service will extend the special control period for pine wilt disease, focusing on the special control zones.

On the 24th, the Korea Forest Service announced that it will carry out pine wilt disease control projects, including species conversion and thinning, until the end of next month in six special control zones designated last January in Dalseong-gun, Daegu; Pohang, Andong, Goryeong, Seongju in Gyeongbuk; and Miryang in Gyeongnam.

Workers are fumigating damaged trees at a forest site affected by pine wilt disease. Photo by Korea Forest Service

Typically, the pine wilt disease control period is conducted until April, considering the emergence period of vector insects such as the pine sawyer beetle and the northern pine sawyer beetle.

However, this year, the Korea Forest Service explained that the control projects will be extended, focusing on special control zones severely affected by pine wilt disease.

All pine trees infected with pine wilt disease within the special control zones will be cut down and reflected in the reforestation plan for the following year, replacing them with other tree species excluding pines. Additionally, thinned pine trees will be transported outside the forest to be chipped or undergo heat treatment processes for resource utilization.

Furthermore, pine trees not infected with pine wilt disease will receive tree injections for disease prevention from November this year to March next year.

To efficiently promote the control projects in the special control zones, the Korea Forest Service will assign one dedicated team member per city or county to provide project support and consulting when selecting sites for species conversion. They also plan to support periodic inspection activities of the species conversion project sites.

Nam Sung-hyun, Administrator of the Korea Forest Service, stated, “We plan to restore forest health through species conversion in forests severely affected by pine wilt disease,” adding, “We will seek ways to enhance both the public value and future economic value of forests.”