Mass Occurrence of Dead Pine Trees... Pohang City Jointly Responds with Korea Forest Service and Gyeongbuk Province

On-site Inspection of Mass Pine Tree Die-off on Namgu Coast

Focus on Understanding Terrain and Characteristics of Affected Area and Developing Control Measures

On the 6th, Pohang City conducted a joint on-site inspection with the Korea Forest Service and Gyeongbuk Province to seek solutions regarding the recent mass die-off of pine trees along the coastline of Nam-gu.

On the 6th, Pohang City conducted a joint inspection of the mass pine tree die-off site along the southern coastal area together with the Korea Forest Service and Gyeongbuk Province.

During the inspection, the city shared field difficulties in controlling pine wilt disease and engaged in in-depth discussions, including proposing budget support necessary for a full-scale response to Nam Seong-hyun, the head of the Korea Forest Service, who attended the inspection.

Despite Pohang City's concentrated administrative efforts to minimize damage from pine wilt disease, a mass die-off of pine trees has occurred along the Nam-gu coastline since last year, causing significant challenges in disease control.

This die-off is presumed to be the result of multiple factors, including abnormal climate conditions such as winter droughts and spring heat waves?both cited nationwide as causes for the spread of pine wilt disease?as well as typhoons and salt damage.

In Nam-gu, Homigot-myeon has restricted access due to past landmine sites within defense facilities, posing risks to personnel, while Donghae-myeon and Janggi-myeon face limitations in surveillance and control operations due to military installations.

Additionally, coastal areas in Guryongpo-eup, Janggi-myeon, and Donghae-myeon have poor pine tree growth environments caused by years of typhoon damage and continuous sea fog-induced salt damage, making them vulnerable to pine wilt disease infection and resulting in mass die-offs.

Accordingly, since last year, the city has designated this area as a complex control zone, simultaneously conducting pine wilt disease control and forest cultivation projects; however, due to the extensive damage area and large number of affected trees, the city is struggling to find alternatives.

Pohang City is actively promoting efficient control measures tailored to the terrain and characteristics of the damaged areas, such as drone spraying of pesticides and clear-cutting within mass outbreak zones using drones.

Furthermore, joint surveillance inspections of the damaged zones were conducted using helicopters from the Korea Forest Service and city-leased helicopters, with the inspection results intended to serve as basic data for establishing better response measures and efficient control strategies.

Lee Sang-cheol, the city’s political affairs advisor, stated, “We will focus administrative efforts on fundamental solutions through integrated control measures according to the damage types in the Nam-gu coastal mass outbreak areas. We will actively respond to prevent the spread of pine wilt disease by establishing appropriate control plans using scientific and efficient methods in cooperation with the Korea Forest Service and Gyeongbuk Province.”

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