Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Crack Down on Illegal Activities at 13 Campsites

Cases of Illegal Activities Detected in the Campsite

Gyeonggi Province has uncovered a large number of campgrounds violating relevant laws, such as operating campgrounds without registering with the competent authority or installing campground structures in restricted development zones without permission.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police announced on the 20th that, as a result of inspecting 45 campgrounds in the province from May 30 to June 9, they found 13 locations (15 cases) violating the Tourism Promotion Act and other regulations.

Among the major cases, Campground A in Yangju-si was found operating a campground on an 180,000㎡ site with 157 sites, showers, and restrooms without registering with the competent authority.

Campground B in Gapyeong-gun was also found to be operating a campground without registration by creating 18 camping sites on nearby land while running a rural lodging business.

Campground C in Hwaseong-si installed an organic facility called Bungbung Tteumteul within the campground site to attract family campers with infants but operated without reporting it as another amusement facility to the competent authority, resulting in a crackdown.

Campground D in Yangju-si was caught operating a mountain area adjacent to the campground, designated as forest land, as a campground by altering the terrain without obtaining mountain use permission from the competent authority. Campground E was caught preparing and selling coffee at a store on the site without reporting a food and beverage establishment to the competent authority.

Operating an unregistered campground is punishable under the Tourism Promotion Act by imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of up to 20 million KRW, and these penalties can be imposed concurrently. Illegal construction activities in restricted development zones are punishable under the Development Restriction Zone Act by imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million KRW if for profit, or imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million KRW if not for profit.

Additionally, unauthorized mountain use in conservation forest areas is punishable under the Mountain Management Act by imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to 50 million KRW, and operating an unreported food and beverage establishment is punishable under the Food Sanitation Act by imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million KRW.

Hong Eun-gi, head of the Gyeonggi Province Civil Affairs Special Judicial Police, stated, "We hope this crackdown serves as a warning to some business owners who commit illegal acts due to lack of interest in facility safety or ignorance of regulations. We will continue to conduct inspections on easily overlooked matters to ensure safe camping activities and do our best to eradicate illegal activities."

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