Korea Forest Service: "Next Year's Forestry Policy Keywords Are 'Safety, Happiness, Innovation'... Strengthening National Responsibility"

The Korea Forest Service will strengthen the fulfillment of its national responsibilities by advancing next year's forestry policies with a focus on safety, happiness, and innovation.

On December 11, during a government work report presided over by the President, the Korea Forest Service identified its key priorities for next year as: protecting public safety, enhancing public happiness, and innovating the forestry industry.

Provided by Korea Forest Service

To ensure public safety, the Korea Forest Service will immediately deploy all available national firefighting resources, including military helicopters, to the scene of any wildfire regardless of agency boundaries, enabling rapid initial response. Even in the early stages of a wildfire, when local governments hold command authority, if there is significant risk of the fire spreading into a large-scale disaster, the head of the Korea Forest Service will intervene swiftly, thereby strengthening the national responsibility to protect public safety.

Wildfire prevention policies will also be expanded. To eradicate the burning of agricultural byproducts-a primary cause of wildfires in farming and mountain villages-the support period for shredding agricultural byproducts, which is currently concentrated during the busy farming season, will be extended to "after the autumn harvest season." In addition, 120 wildfire safety zones will be created in areas adjacent to forests-six times more than this year-to prevent human casualties from wildfires.

Measures to strengthen the social role of forests are also included in the work report. First, to ensure that all citizens can equally benefit from forest welfare services, barrier-free sharing trails will be expanded, and customized forest education programs for special education classes will be increased. The Korea Forest Service will also collaborate with the government-wide Suicide Prevention Task Force and other ministries to develop joint forest healing programs, providing these services to high-risk and potentially at-risk groups.

While expanding forest welfare facilities such as forest healing centers and natural recreation forests, the agency will also identify and link region-specific projects to address regional imbalances through forestry. This approach will combine forest welfare infrastructure with local accommodation, dining, and experiential services to attract tourism demand.

Plans to introduce a competitive system in forestry projects are also part of next year's work agenda. The Korea Forest Service will shift the role of forestry cooperatives from project implementation to a "management-oriented" focus, increasing opportunities for private forestry companies to participate. To foster outstanding private sector businesses, a construction capability evaluation system will be introduced. Policies to improve the quality of forestry projects, such as making project costs more realistic and strengthening post-project management, will also be expanded.

Greater emphasis will be placed on strengthening safety management at forestry worksites. To this end, the Korea Forest Service will establish effective sanctions for violations of safety-related laws and create an on-site management governance system. The agency also plans to improve management conditions in the forestry sector by enhancing the direct payment system for forestry workers and to expand tailored policies such as education and start-up support for young forestry professionals.

Commissioner Kim Inho of the Korea Forest Service stated, "The Korea Forest Service will harness the power of collective intelligence based on communication and work together with the public to create 'forests that save lives.'"

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