12 Sites Including Gapyeong Okgyegugok Newly Designated as National Forest Cultural Assets

A panoramic view of Duruchim Forest located in Hamyang-gun, included in this year's newly designated national forest cultural assets list. Provided by the Korea Forest Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korea Forest Service announced on the 3rd that it has newly designated 12 sites, including Okgyegugok in Gapyeong, as 'National Forest Cultural Assets' this year.

Forest cultural assets are selected annually based on their high ecological, scenic, and emotional preservation value, encompassing both tangible and intangible forest resources.

To date, a total of 71 sites have been designated as forest cultural assets, including the 12 newly designated sites this year such as Okgyegugok in Gapyeong.

List of 12 Newly Designated 'National Forest Cultural Assets' This Year. Provided by the Korea Forest Service

In particular, this year the Korea Forest Service, in collaboration with Busan City, newly designated two sites as forest cultural assets: the Chinese scholar tree at Saemteo Park in Goejeong-dong, Busan, and the Oeyangpo Battery and Malgil.

This is significant as it marks the first time that new forest cultural assets have been designated in Busan through cooperation between the Korea Forest Service and local governments.

Building on this, the Korea Forest Service plans to work with related organizations to discover and manage additional forest cultural assets with preservation value.

Kim Yong-gwan, Director of Forest Welfare at the Korea Forest Service, stated, “We will strive to discover and preserve more forest cultural assets that trace the culture and life intertwined with forests,” adding, “Furthermore, we will foster an environment where the public can take pride in our traditional forest culture.”

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