Hwaseong-si "Pine Wilt Nematode Emergency Control Completed"

"We Will Also Conduct a Full Survey of Dead Trees"

Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 24th that it has immediately designated the areas of Songsan-myeon and Jangan-myeon, where Pine Wilt Disease occurred, as quarantine zones and urgently treated 5 infected trees.

The city plans to treat all 20 infected trees before April, which is the emergence period of the vector beetle, the Northern Pine Sawyer, that causes infection and spread.

Officials from Hwaseong City are conducting pine wilt disease prevention injections in a pine forest. Photo by Hwaseong City

Pine Wilt Disease is caused when the vector beetles, the Pine Sawyer or Northern Pine Sawyer, feed on the branches of pine trees, Korean red pines (Gomsong), Korean nut pines (Jatnamu), and island nut pines (Seomjatnamu), infecting the trees. Infected trees cannot be treated or recovered and eventually die.

Since the first occurrence of Pine Wilt Disease in December 2017, the city has continuously conducted preventive injections on pine species within the designated quarantine zones to prevent further spread, as well as removed trees suspected of infection. The city plans to carry out thorough prevention and control measures next year as well to ensure no infected trees or treatment areas are overlooked.

Lee Moon-hee, Director of the Forest Recreation Division of Hwaseong City, urged, "We ask citizens to report to the Control Headquarters if they observe discoloration or drooping symptoms in nearby pine trees."

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