"Focus on Defending Clean and Key Areas": Korea Forest Service Begins Pine Wilt Disease Control This Month

Pine wilt disease (hereafter referred to as pine wilt) control activities will be carried out from this month until May next year. Pine wilt is an infectious disease that rapidly destroys forest ecosystems by causing the death of pine trees. In Korea, the first case was reported in Busan in 1988. Although the number of pine wilt infections had been steadily decreasing since 2014, the trend reversed and began to spread again around 2023. Between September last year and May this year, a total of 1.49 million infected trees were identified.

On the 24th, the Korea Forest Service announced that it has established and will implement the "Pine Wilt Disease Control Action Plan (September 2025-May 2026)." The action plan focuses on preventing infections in clean areas and in pine forests with high conservation value, such as the Geumgang Pine Forest and the Baekdudaegan Mountain Range, in line with the current spread of pine wilt.

The Korea Forest Service also plans to strengthen on-site, customized control measures, such as enhancing monitoring and control at national buffer zones. National buffer zones serve as a kind of "defensive line" at the national level to prevent the spread of pine wilt, and are areas that require special measures due to their high importance for control and management.

Provided by Korea Forest Service

This year, the Korea Forest Service will pilot a system that automatically identifies trees suspected of pine wilt infection. In addition to the existing survey methods using helicopters and drones, artificial intelligence (AI) and LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technologies will be introduced to automate the identification of suspected trees. Suspected trees discovered through this process will be immediately tested for infection on-site using genetic diagnostic kits, with the aim of speeding up control efforts.

In national buffer zones and high-conservation areas such as the Geumgang Pine Forest and the Baekdudaegan Mountain Range, a multi-layered defense system will be established to prevent the spread of pine wilt. These areas will be designated as key management zones, where specialized personnel and advanced equipment will be deployed as a priority. Additionally, buffer zones such as urban areas, rivers, and broad-leaved forests will be utilized to build a multi-layered defense system.

Furthermore, depending on the extent and scale of damage and whether outbreaks are clustered, different control methods will be applied on-site, including single-tree control (chipping and fumigation), clear-cutting of small areas, intensive thinning, and species conversion. Species conversion control, which aims to completely block the spread of pine wilt in outbreak-prone areas such as special control zones, has been fully implemented starting this year.

In addition, the Korea Forest Service will proactively guide and monitor firewood farms and pine tree handling businesses, and will raise awareness by taking legal action when unauthorized movement of pine trees is detected. During the last control period, there were a total of 12 new or recurring pine wilt outbreaks, of which 9 cases (75%) are believed to have been caused by human activity.

Lee Yongkwon, Director of Forest Disaster Management at the Korea Forest Service, stated, "If pine wilt is not controlled in a timely manner, the damage can spread rapidly, threatening both property rights and the natural ecosystem. This year, the Korea Forest Service will focus its efforts on protecting pine forests and forest ecosystems through AI-based monitoring, control centered on national buffer zones, and the healthy transformation of forests."

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