Forest Service conducts weekend 'Illegal Burning Mobile Crackdown'... 300,000 KRW fine if caught

Officials from the Korea Forest Service are inspecting a site where agricultural byproducts are being burned. Photo by Korea Forest Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korea Forest Service announced on the 10th that it will operate a nationwide mobile inspection team from the 10th to the 11th to prevent forest fires.

The mobile inspection team will focus on inspecting activities such as burning rice paddies and field ridges, burning garbage and agricultural waste, unauthorized entry into restricted forest areas, and carrying fire sources within forests and adjacent areas (within 100m of forests).

In particular, illegal burning activities will be strictly dealt with by imposing fines according to relevant laws and regulations.

The current Forest Protection Act (Article 34) states that a fine of 300,000 KRW can be imposed on those who light fires or carry fire sources in forests or adjacent areas.

From January to March, among 187 forest fires, 39 cases (21%) were caused by burning, and the arrest rate of offenders responsible for burning-related forest fires reached 75%.

The Korea Forest Service will also conduct educational activities for forest fire prevention alongside the mobile inspections. They will visit residents in forest fire-prone villages to raise awareness that careless burning can lead to large-scale forest fires and promote the fact that even if a forest fire is caused accidentally, offenders can face imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to 30 million KRW.

Ko Rak-sam, head of the Forest Fire Prevention Division at the Korea Forest Service, said, “Illegal burning in forest-adjacent areas is identified as a major cause of forest fires every year. The Korea Forest Service plans to conduct special mobile inspections this weekend to intensively crack down on unauthorized illegal burning and strengthen penalties by imposing fines on violators.”

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