Year-Round and Large-Scale Forest Disasters... Korea Forest Service "Plans to Establish Dedicated Disaster Response Team"

632 Wildfires Occurred This Year
Over 30% Increase Compared to 10-Year Average
Korea Forest Service Enhances Forest Disaster Response System
Plans to Establish 'Sanlim Jaenan Gwanriguk' for Efficient Disaster Management

Nam Seong-hyun, the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service, recently held a press conference at the Government Complex Daejeon to introduce the 'Measures for Responding to Large-scale and Year-round Forest Fires.' Photo by Korea Forest Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Forest disasters such as wildfires and landslides are becoming more frequent and larger in scale throughout the year. The Korea Forest Service is seeking ways to effectively manage crisis situations by shifting the paradigm of forest disaster response and establishing a dedicated organization accordingly.

According to the Korea Forest Service on the 3rd, a total of 632 wildfires of various sizes occurred nationwide from January to September this year. This figure exceeds the average annual number of wildfires from January to September during 2012?2022, which was 481, by about 30%.

In particular, wildfires are becoming more frequent and the scale of damage is gradually increasing due to climate change and other factors. For example, the number of wildfires over the past 10 years increased from 197 cases in 2012 to 349 cases in 2021, a 1.8-fold increase, while the damaged area expanded from 72 hectares in 2012 to 766 hectares in 2021, a 10.6-fold increase.

This year, the damage caused by large-scale wildfires is especially severe. As of September, a total of 11 large wildfires occurred, resulting in forest damage covering 24,016 hectares, which has grown like a snowball.

Provided by Korea Forest Service

Landslide damage is also a situation that cannot be overlooked. In 2018, 381 landslides occurred, destroying 56 hectares of forest; in 2019, 1,644 cases caused damage to 156 hectares; in 2020, 6,175 cases affected 1,343 hectares; and in 2021, 19 cases damaged 27 hectares, according to the Korea Forest Service’s data.

As the risks of forest disasters such as wildfires and landslides increase, the Korea Forest Service is accelerating the paradigm shift in forest disaster response, including promoting the enactment of the Forest Disaster Prevention Act. The government has included the systematization and advancement of disaster response capabilities and the strengthening of forest disaster response organizations as national agenda items, and in early August, separately prepared measures for large-scale and year-round occurrences as a representative example.

Recently, the Korea Forest Service also established and announced the “Large-scale and Year-round Wildfire Response Plan (2022?2027)” to respond to climate change in the mid- to long-term.

The response plan includes expanding forest roads nationwide from 357 km to 3,207 km by 2027 to facilitate the access of firefighting personnel and vehicles during wildfires, and increasing the number of multipurpose (water retention) check dams from 43 to 63 locations.

Efforts will also be made to reinforce essential equipment and personnel at wildfire sites. The Korea Forest Service plans to increase the number of wildfire firefighting helicopters from the current 48 to 58 by 2027, high-performance wildfire firefighting vehicles from 9 to 32, and special wildfire disaster firefighting personnel from 435 to over 2,200.

In particular, the Korea Forest Service intends to focus on establishing the “Forest Disaster Management Bureau” to strengthen forest disaster response.

Provided by Korea Forest Service

Until now, the Korea Forest Service’s Forest Protection Bureau has been responsible for overseeing forest disasters such as wildfires and landslides. The plan is to separate these functions and establish the “Forest Disaster Management Bureau” as an independent dedicated organization to serve as a control tower during forest disaster situations.

Once the Forest Disaster Management Bureau is established, the Korea Forest Service plans to operate under a structure of one bureau and five divisions by creating the Forest Disaster Management Division and the Central Forest Disaster Situation Room, and transferring the Wildfire Prevention Division, Landslide Prevention Division, and Forest Pest Control Division under its jurisdiction.

A Korea Forest Service official stated, “Strengthening forest disaster management is a declaration of the government’s commitment to ensuring the safety of its citizens. The Korea Forest Service has requested the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to establish the ‘Forest Disaster Management Bureau’ and increase personnel to specialize and concentrate capabilities in forest disaster management, thereby protecting the lives and property of the people.”

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