Korea Forest Service to Accept Applications for 'Forestry Direct Payment System' Starting Next Month

The Korea Forest Service announced on the 18th that it will accept applications for the "2025 Forestry and Forest Public Interest Direct Payment (hereinafter referred to as Forestry Direct Payment)" from April 1 to April 30.

The Forestry Direct Payment is a system introduced in 2022 to enhance the public functions of forestry and forests and to compensate for the low income of forestry workers. It is paid to forestry workers and organizations qualified as agricultural corporations who engage in forestry activities in eligible forest areas.

Provided by Korea Forest Service

The eligibility criteria for the forest product production sector are forestry workers who have been engaged in forest product production for at least one year (60 days or more annually) in forest areas registered as agricultural management entities from April 1, 2019, to September 30, 2022, and whose annual forest product sales amount to 1.2 million KRW or more.

In the silviculture sector, forestry workers who have obtained forest management plan approval and have been registered as agricultural management entities in forest areas at the same time, have engaged in silviculture for at least one year (60 days or more annually), and have a silviculture performance of 3 hectares or more over the past 10 years, among other qualifications, can receive the Forestry Direct Payment.

The Korea Forest Service extended the application period for the Forestry Direct Payment to two months this year (previously one month) to improve convenience for forestry workers. Online applications can be made from April 1 to 31 through the "Forestry-in Integrated Portal," and in-person applications can be submitted from April 1 to 30 at the administrative welfare centers of the relevant eup, myeon, or dong where the forest area is located.

For more detailed information regarding the Forestry Direct Payment application, inquiries can be made at the forest departments of city, county, and district offices, as well as at the eup, myeon, and dong administrative welfare centers.

Park Eun-sik, Director of the Forest Industry Policy Bureau at the Korea Forest Service, said, "The Forestry Direct Payment plays a role in stabilizing the income of small-scale forestry households and revitalizing forest management. The Korea Forest Service will strive to maximize the public value of forests by improving the system to reduce administrative burdens on forestry workers and help increase their income."