Illegal Activities in Rivers and Valleys Like 'Dakbaeksuk Sales' Rise Again... Gyeonggi-do Catches 68 Cases

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has uncovered a large number of business owners committing illegal acts such as operating camping sites by unlawfully occupying land in valleys or rivers and selling chicken baeksuk (chicken soup).

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Public Welfare announced on the 3rd that, ahead of the peak vacation season, they conducted inspections from June 27 to July 17 at 361 recreational spots including major valleys and rivers in the province such as Gapyeong’s famous valleys and Eobi Valley, resulting in the detection of 68 illegal activities.

Among the main violations, the 'A' camping site in Gapyeong-gun was found to have installed a total of nine camping sites by unlawfully occupying land within the river area and operated the camping site business without registering with the competent authority.

The 'B' restaurant in Pocheon-si was caught for unlawfully occupying public waters without permission from the Public Waters Management Authority, failing to report changes in business area, and illegally installing outdoor tables while cooking and selling dishes such as chicken baeksuk and spicy chicken stew during this crackdown.

The 'C' cafe in Namyangju-si was found to have sold coffee and tea to visitors near a nearby river without reporting its food and beverage business to the competent authority, while having tables and parasols set up.

The 'D' lodging facility in Gapyeong-gun was caught operating lodging business with facilities such as playground equipment and spa rooms without reporting to the competent authority.

Since 2019, the province has been actively promoting the "Clean Valley Return to Residents Project" to restore valleys and rivers, which had become illegal and makeshift dumping grounds, back to the residents.

Accordingly, the number of illegal activities detected in valleys and rivers in the province had been decreasing annually from 142 cases in 2019, 74 in 2020, and 47 in 2021, but increased again to 68 cases this year.

The province explained that the increase in detected cases this year was due to expanding the inspection targets from mainly illegal floor mat activities within valleys to include restaurants, cafes, and camping sites within valleys and rivers.

Kim Min-kyung, head of the province’s Special Judicial Police, emphasized, "We will continue to manage with a zero-tolerance policy to ensure that habitual illegal activities occurring annually in recreational areas such as rivers and valleys do not recur."

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