Pine Wilt Disease Damage Down 17% Nationwide... Regional Contrasts with Chuncheon Increasing Over 700%

Status of the top 5 regions with the highest increase or decrease in pine wilt disease damage and dead pine trees. The reference period is from April 2018 to April 2019 compared to April 2019 to April this year. Provided by the Korea Forest Service.

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Last year, the damage scale caused by pine wilt disease decreased by about 17% compared to the previous year. The number of areas classified as "severe zones," where damage was intense, also reduced from two to one. However, there was a significant variation in damage increase or decrease by region, with some areas such as Chuncheon experiencing an increase of over 700%, highlighting the growing importance of control efforts.

On the 6th, the Korea Forest Service announced the results of the "2019 Pine Wilt Disease Control" at the Government Complex Daejeon.

According to the Korea Forest Service, from May last year to April this year (before the emergence period of the vector beetle), a total of 410,000 pine trees affected by pine wilt disease were found in 124 cities, counties, and districts nationwide, all of which have been removed. Considering that in 2013, the number of affected trees had spread to 2.18 million mainly in Jeju Island and Gyeongsang Province, the recent decline in damage scale is significant.

In particular, the number of severe zones with more than 50,000 affected trees decreased from two locations (Ulsan Ulju-gun and Jeju Island) as of April last year to one location (Ulsan Ulju-gun) as of April this year, which adds further significance.

Conceptual Diagram of Pine Wilt Disease Control Strategy. Provided by the Korea Forest Service

This is attributed to the control efforts by the Korea Forest Service and local governments nationwide. For example, these agencies removed 410,000 affected trees and 1.45 million trees at risk of infection during the joint detailed surveillance from May to October last year and the intensive control period from October 2019 to April this year.

Additionally, efforts to prevent the spread of pine wilt disease included joint control operations between local governments and national forest management offices, inspections of control project sites, operation of checkpoints to monitor the movement of pine trees, and focused crackdowns on businesses handling pine trees.

As a result, the number of pine wilt disease-affected trees from May last year to April this year, the vector beetle emergence period, decreased by 17% compared to the previous year.

However, there were mixed outcomes in the new occurrences and changes in pine wilt disease damage by region. For instance, seven regions including Seosan in Chungnam and Haenam in Jeonnam were newly listed as affected areas, while three regions including Yeongyang and Mungyeong in Gyeongbuk and Hongseong in Chungnam were reclassified as clean recovery areas as of last month.

When combining the status of new occurrences and clean recovery areas, the number of cities, counties, and districts affected by pine wilt disease increased by four to 124 as of last month compared to 120 in April last year.

Also, comparing the increase and decrease in affected trees by region from April 2018?April 2019 to April 2019?April this year, 42 regions showed an increase while 54 regions showed a decrease, reflecting mixed results.

Data on the increase and decrease of pine wilt disease damage by local governments nationwide. Provided by the Korea Forest Service

In particular, regions such as Miryang (50.3%), Jeju Island (44.4%), Ulsan (Buk-gu, 30.6%), Gyeongju (18.0%), and Ulju (17.9%) showed a decrease in damage compared to the previous year, while Chuncheon (740.0%), Hongcheon (240.7%), Namyangju (148.3%), Suncheon (120.4%), and Yeosu (106.4%) were among the top five regions with increased damage, showing contrasting outcomes.

This underscores the need to shift the previous control strategy, which focused on intensive control in severely affected areas, to strengthening surveillance and prevention in seedling forests and regions with minor pine wilt disease damage.

In this regard, the Korea Forest Service plans to establish separate control methods tailored to the characteristics of Korean nut pine in the Gyeonggi and Gangwon regions, where pine wilt disease damage has recently concentrated, including clear-cutting of risk areas and development of preventive agents. For cities, counties, and districts with increased damage, the agency will focus on detailed surveillance and close consulting, while taking firm administrative measures to prevent damage spread caused by negligence or poor control.

The Korea Forest Service also pointed out that the significant increase in pine wilt disease damage in the Gyeonggi and Gangwon regions is partly due to the delayed appearance of tree death symptoms in Korean nut pine forests compared to pine trees, which delayed the discovery of affected trees.

Choi Byung-am, Deputy Director of the Korea Forest Service, said, "It is necessary to adjust control strategies according to changes in the spread pattern of pine wilt disease. The Korea Forest Service plans to focus its capabilities on reducing seedling forests and prioritizing the protection of major pine forests such as Baekdudaegan and the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to prevent the spread of pine wilt disease."

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