Naju City Designated Geumseongsan Provincial Park... Mine Removal Begins

From the 23rd of next month until November

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Han-hyuk] Naju City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Kang In-gyu) announced on the 18th that it will begin removing remaining landmines buried around the summit area in cooperation with the military as the first step toward designating Geumseongsan as a provincial park.

The designation of ‘Geumseongsan Provincial Park’ is one of the seven leading projects of the ‘Naju Development Season 2’ announced by the city in the new year of 2020 to leap forward as the central city of Honam.

The city aims to manage the excellent ecological environment and natural scenery of Geumseongsan, one of the eight famous mountains in Honam, more systematically through the provincial park designation and to develop it fully as a space for citizens.

To completely remove the remaining landmines in Geumseongsan, which is the biggest obstacle to the provincial park designation, the city plans to further strengthen cooperation with the army unit conducting this year’s operation.

The landmines on Geumseongsan are known to have been buried from the early 1960s to the late 1970s, totaling 1,853, for the purpose of protecting rear bases against special forces infiltration.

Since then, as international tensions eased and the dangers of landmines to civilians became apparent, a total of 1,771 mines were collected through three rounds of army landmine removal operations from 2003 to 2015.

Excluding mines presumed destroyed by explosions caused by a fire in the late 1970s, the current remaining number is known to be 76.

This landmine removal operation will require a budget of 240 million won from the Ministry of National Defense.

Also, from the 23rd of next month until November, about 30 specialized personnel from the engineering battalion of the 31st Army Division will be deployed, focusing on areas around the summit of Geumseongsan where landmine signs and barbed wire fences are installed.

The city and the military will actively promote precautions to prevent civilian safety accidents during the operation, including ▲strict prohibition of entry to the work site ▲prohibition of hiking and wild vegetable gathering within the operation radius ▲prohibition of photographing the work site, and will ask for smooth cooperation from citizens regarding government and military control.

Mayor Kang In-gyu said, “This military landmine removal operation is a very important first gateway for the designation of Geumseongsan, the guardian mountain of Naju,” and added, “We will do our best to minimize tree damage to protect the forest ecosystem and prevent safety accidents among the military and citizens.”

He continued, “There have been frequent cases of wild vegetable gathering within the operation radius,” and added, “We will strengthen publicity such as related banners and signboards to prevent unauthorized entry into closed areas.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.