Korea Forest Service Establishes Forest Disaster Control Officer to Strengthen Integrated Response to Forest Disasters

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korea Forest Service is strengthening its forest disaster response capabilities by establishing a Forest Disaster Controller position. The purpose of creating the Forest Disaster Controller is to enable efficient response by integrating the management of year-round and large-scale forest disasters linked to the climate crisis.

According to the Korea Forest Service on the 27th, the Forest Disaster Controller will oversee the Forest Fire Prevention Division, Landslide Prevention Division, Forest Pest Control Division, and the newly established Central Forest Disaster Situation Room, taking overall responsibility for responding to forest disaster situations.

Among these, the Central Forest Disaster Situation Room will be newly established by separating it from the existing Forest Fire Prevention Division and will manage all forest disaster situations, including forest fires, landslides, and forest pests, in an integrated manner.

Through this, the Korea Forest Service expects to solidify the ‘prevention-preparedness-response-recovery’ posture against forest disasters such as forest fires and landslides that threaten the daily lives of the public, as well as forest pests that adversely affect forest ecosystems.

Previously, forest disaster-related tasks were handled by the Director of the Forest Protection Bureau. However, since the Director simultaneously performed the bureau’s core duties such as conserving forest biodiversity, forest restoration, and arboretum establishment, the capacity to focus on forest disaster-related tasks was inevitably dispersed.

Considering the recent increase in the frequency and scale of forest disasters, the driving force to concentrate on managing and responding to forest disasters was weak.

However, with the establishment of the Forest Disaster Controller, the Korea Forest Service explains that the forest disaster and forest protection fields will be separated, providing a basis to concentrate institutional capabilities by field.

By separating the forest disaster field from the Forest Protection Bureau’s duties, the bureau’s core tasks can be strengthened, allowing focused efforts on the conservation of forests, urban ecosystems, and forest biodiversity.

Nam Sung-hyun, Administrator of the Korea Forest Service, stated, “The Forest Disaster Controller will serve as the command center for forest disasters, responding swiftly to the climate crisis and playing a key role in maximizing the economic, environmental, and socio-cultural functions of forests.” He added, “The Korea Forest Service will strive to realize advanced forest management and open a forest renaissance era in Korea by establishing the Forest Disaster Controller position.”

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