Gyeonggi-do, 58 Cases of Illegal Activities Detected in Unmonitored Valleys and Campsites

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Business owners who installed buildings without permits or operated restaurants, campsites, and lodging facilities illegally to make profits at famous recreational areas such as rivers, valleys, and campsites were caught in an investigation by Gyeonggi Province.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Public Welfare announced on the 25th that they conducted an investigation targeting local rivers, which had been overlooked in crackdowns, from June 12 to July 17, and uncovered 58 cases of illegal activities.

All the detected business owners were criminally charged, and the results were notified to each city and county to request restoration measures.

Among the major violations, Restaurant ㄱ in Gapyeong-gun was caught for occupying an old house on public waters without obtaining occupancy and usage permits from the Public Waters Management Authority, installing a total of nine structures (350㎡) including steel structures, prefabricated buildings, and containers, and using them as a restaurant.

Pension ㄴ in Gapyeong-gun illegally occupied land within the local river area and installed six facilities (347㎡) including a steel deck, swimming pool, warehouse, and restroom, using them as pension auxiliary facilities before being caught in the crackdown.

Restaurant ㄷ in Gapyeong-gun operated without filing a food service business report to the competent authority, equipped a 287㎡ business area with tables, cooking counters, refrigerators, and prepared and sold food such as chicken baeksuk and spicy chicken stew to unspecified visitors to the nearby river before being caught.

Food service establishment ㄹ in Gwangju City operated a general restaurant selling dishes like Neungi chicken baeksuk and alcoholic beverages, expanded its business area outdoors by 175㎡ without reporting the change, installed platforms, tents, tables, and conducted business activities before being caught.

Minbak ㅁ in Yongin City reported only some floors of a house suitable for rural minbak business but was caught operating lodging business on the remaining floors classified as a type 2 neighborhood living facility (general restaurant).

The province has been focusing on cleaning up illegal activities in rivers since last year to return beautiful valley rivers to residents.

Thanks to continuous crackdowns and guidance by the special judicial police and related departments, compared to the same period last year, the number of detected illegal activities decreased by 59.1%, and unauthorized occupation and use of river areas dropped by 75.5%. Also, there were no illegal platform installation business activities within the valleys.

Inchikwon, head of the province’s Special Judicial Police, said, "Due to continuous crackdowns over the past year, it has become difficult to find unauthorized platform installations and unfair fee collections in local rivers across the province," adding, "As the recreational season arrives, some attempt to resume illegal activities, so we will continue to manage strictly to prevent unauthorized occupation and other illegal acts in rivers and valleys from taking root again."

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