Gyeongnam Province Cracks Down on Illegal Activities in Neighborhood Facilities within Greenbelt Areas

The site where the bean sprout cultivation facility was illegally repurposed as a manufacturing plant last year and was caught.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Ju Cheol-in] The Special Judicial Police of Gyeongsangnam-do announced on the 22nd that from October 1 to 29, they will crack down on illegal activities in neighborhood living facilities such as restaurants, coffee shops, and bakeries within the development-restricted zones.

They will mainly inspect acts such as constructing or installing buildings or structures without permission, illegally changing the use of facilities into logistics warehouses or factories, unauthorized alteration of adjacent land into parking lots, unauthorized storage of construction materials, or illegal dumping and landfill of waste.

In particular, this crackdown plans to focus not only on buildings like neighborhood living facilities illegally changed for commercial purposes but also on unauthorized installation or expansion of parking lots by altering land conditions.

The Special Judicial Police explained that unauthorized expansion of parking lots within development-restricted zones, considering only user convenience amid the COVID-19 situation, may hinder social distancing due to increased indoor users.

Within development-restricted zones, illegally changing the use of buildings or altering land conditions for commercial purposes or habitually is punishable by up to three years imprisonment or a fine of up to 30 million won under the Special Measures Act on the Designation and Management of Development-Restricted Zones.

Baek Hyun-tae, Director of the Social Disaster Division of Gyeongnam Province, stated, “By cracking down on commercial or habitual illegal activities within development-restricted zones, we will prevent damage to these zones and secure a healthy living environment for residents.”

Last year, the Gyeongnam Special Judicial Police detected and criminally charged eight cases where buildings permitted as farm warehouses were illegally changed in use and rented out as manufacturing sites or general warehouses.

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