Korea Forest Service Detects 184 Cases of Illegal Activities in Forests of Incheon and Gyeonggi

The Special Forest Judicial Police are using electronic maps to check for unauthorized damage within the forest. Provided by the Korea Forest Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korea Forest Service announced on the 21st that it conducted a focused crackdown on illegal activities in forest areas of Incheon and Gyeonggi Province from March 25 to May 31, uncovering a total of 184 cases, with judicial proceedings currently underway for 160 cases.

The focused crackdown was jointly carried out by the Korea Forest Service, Incheon City, and Gyeonggi Province. The purpose was to prevent indiscriminate development of mountainous areas and to strictly punish illegal activities within forests carried out for real estate development.

The majority of detected cases, 179 (97% of the total), were violations of the 'Mountainous Area Management Act.' These results came from inspections of unauthorized use beyond the permitted purposes such as mountain land conversion permits, violations of permit conditions, aerial photo analysis of suspected mountain land damage sites, and on-site crackdowns. Among the total detected cases, 157 are currently undergoing judicial processing.

For forests where illegal activities occurred, immediate restoration orders were issued to prevent forest disasters such as landslides.

The Korea Forest Service continues to crack down on illegal activities without jurisdictional distinction in cooperation with Incheon City and Gyeonggi Province.

In particular, from July 1 to August 31, designated as the 'Summer Forest Law Enforcement Special Measures Period,' the agency plans to intensify crackdowns on forest protection zones such as forest genetic resource protection areas and illegal facilities within valleys.

Kim Yong-gwan, Director of Forest Protection at the Korea Forest Service, stated, “Forests are future assets that all of us must nurture,” and urged, “We ask for the voluntary participation of the public to ensure the health of forest ecosystems and a safe living environment.”

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