Korea Forest Service to Strengthen Crackdown on Illegal Harvesting of Forest Products in Autumn

The Korea Forest Service announced on September 4 that it will conduct intensive crackdowns on indiscriminate harvesting and collection of forest products from September 15 to October 30 to prevent damage to forestry producers and the forest ecosystem.

A special forest judicial police officer is cracking down on illegal harvesting of forest products. Provided by the Korea Forest Service

The main targets of the crackdown include illegal harvesting of forest products, unauthorized entry into restricted forest areas, cooking activities within forests, and illegal dumping of garbage and waste.

During the crackdown period, the Korea Forest Service and local governments will deploy 1,772 forest protection personnel, including special forest judicial police officers, to key habitats of forest products and hiking trails. They also plan to minimize blind spots in enforcement by utilizing drone monitoring teams from 32 agencies and unmanned wildfire surveillance cameras.

Additionally, individuals caught engaging in illegal activities will be handed over to the relevant authorities and will be subject to strict action under the principle of zero tolerance, in accordance with the Forest Protection Act, the Forest Resources Act, and other related laws.

Those who steal forest products from forests may face imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to 50 million won (for seed forests and experimental forests, imprisonment ranges from at least one year to up to ten years). Those who illegally dump waste or garbage in forests may be fined up to 1 million won.

Choi Youngtae, Director General of the Forest Protection Bureau at the Korea Forest Service, stated, "Harvesting forest products without the consent of the forest owner is clearly illegal," adding, "We ask for the public's active interest and cooperation to ensure that illegal activities do not become common practice."

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