Chairperson Eom Yunsun: "Special Provisions Needed in Gangwon Special Act to Ease Ecological and Natural Map Regulations"

Five-Minute Free Speech at the 342nd Regular Session of the Gangwon Provincial Council
"Permitting Authority Should Be Exercised Flexibly for Grade 1 Areas in Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province"

Eom Yunsun, Chairperson of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Committee. Provided by Gangwon Provincial Council

There have been calls for Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province to expedite legislative efforts, such as amending the Gangwon Special Act, to allow for more flexible exercise of permitting authority when private entities or others undertake development activities in areas designated as Grade 1 in the Ministry of Environment’s Ecological and Natural Map, taking into account local conditions and development circumstances.

On November 4, Eom Yunsun, Chairperson of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Committee of the Gangwon Provincial Council (People Power Party, Inje), stated during a five-minute free speech at the 1st plenary session of the 342nd regular meeting of the provincial council, “Inje County faces an absolute shortage of available land for development, with forests covering 89.4% of its total area. To make matters worse, residents are suffering from a decline in quality of life and facing significant obstacles to regional development due to four overlapping layers of regulation in the areas of environment, forestry, national defense, and farmland.”

Eom further noted, “Recently, the Ministry of Environment’s ‘Ecological and Natural Map’ regulation has been increasingly criticized in the local community as the ‘number one regulation that must be abolished’ impeding the development of Inje County. A representative example is the large-scale tourism complex project being promoted in Jeongja-ri, Inje County, which has stalled because the planned development site is designated as Grade 1 in the Ecological and Natural Map.”

The Ecological and Natural Map, based on Article 34 of the Natural Environment Conservation Act, is a map created by the Ministry of Environment that grades mountains, rivers, inland wetlands, lakes, farmlands, and cities nationwide from Grade 1 to Grade 3 according to evaluation criteria such as ecological value and naturalness.

This map is mainly used as important basic data in the establishment of environmental plans or in environmental impact assessment consultations for private or other development projects.

The problem is that when an area is designated as Grade 1, it is classified as a “conservation and restoration area,” making it difficult for private development projects to pass environmental impact assessments, or causing projects to be fundamentally impossible or restricted due to obstacles in the permitting process.

As of 2021, Inje County had the highest proportion of areas designated as Grade 1 in the Ecological and Natural Map among the 18 cities and counties in the province, at 35.6%, far exceeding the Gangwon Province average of 23.3%.

Regarding measures to improve the Ecological and Natural Map system and ease regulations, Eom argued, “There is a need to pursue legislative efforts, such as amending the Gangwon Special Act to include special provisions, so that even in areas designated as Grade 1, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province can flexibly exercise permitting authority, taking into account local conditions and the development environment.”

Eom added, “When local governments or others file objections regarding Grade 1 designated areas, unnecessary halts to development projects should be reduced by simplifying procedures and shortening processing times, thereby fostering sustainable regional development.”

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