[INTERVIEW] Forest minister pledges a renaissance of trees in Korea

Social Affairs

Published: 25 Jul. 2022, 14:16 Updated: 26 Jul. 2022, 08:15

[INTERVIEW] Forest minister pledges a renaissance of trees in Korea

Minister of Korea Forest Service Nam Sung-hyun speaks with the JoongAng Ilbo on Tuesday. [KOREA FOREST SERVICE]

Minister of Korea Forest Service Nam Sung-hyun pledged a forestry renaissance during his tenure in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo on Tuesday.

"If the wood self-sufficiency rate were to be raised from the current 16 percent to 25 percent by 2027, we can be saving up as much as 642.8 billion won ($492 million)," Nam told the paper in his office in Daejeon.

Nam has several ideas to make local forestry business more lucrative, but they won't be feasible until current laws change.

"If you look at the status of mountainous areas nationwide, the areas that can be developed include 1.26 million hectares of forestry promotion zone, and some 1.35 million hectares of semi-preserved mountainous area," he said. "To give you some perspective, that is about 41 percent of the country's total forested areas.

"Some of this area can be used to produce wood, and trees planted there again," Nam continued. "In addition, cash crops, such as mushrooms, herbs and wild ginseng, might be allowed to be planted there. All this is not easy under current laws."

Nam, who's been with the Korea Forest Service since he was 18, was formerly head of forestry management bureau, regional director of forestry in the southern provinces, and head of the National Institute of Forest Science. His tenure as the minister of Korea Forest Service began on May 13.

The following are edited excerpts from the interview.

When you speak of changing the relevant laws, what kinds of changes are you implying?

Forest administration needs to adapt to the changing times. Korea has concentrated on afforestation for decades, and thus has strict regulations on forest development. Now, we need to find a way to benefit the people by boldly loosening the regulations. We can begin on how we use domestic wood. We import 6 trillion won worth of wood every year, which covers 84 percent of the annual demand for timber. If the wood self-sufficiency rate were to be raised from the current 16 percent to 25 percent by 2027, we can be saving as much as 642.8 billion won. We will find areas in need of reform in the forestry regulations this year and push for revision of related laws next year.

Any plans on increasing the income for forestry workers?

Sixty-five percent of Korea's forests are privately owned. Although forest owners and foresters are contributing greatly to the improvement of the public value of forests, they are not receiving the benefits due to regulations. With the implementation of a direct payment system from October, we expect 28,000 people to reap some benefits. The target recipients of the forestry direct payment will be those engaged in forestry with an income of less than 37 million won. We expect each household will receive an average benefit of about 1.67 million won.

What is some work at the Korea Forestry Service that has led to tangible results for the people?

The public value of Korea's forests is over 220 trillion won. We will make the most of the economic, environmental and socio-cultural functions of forests. The Korea Forest Service has recently been supporting [the medical staff members] who have been responding to the Covid-19 pandemic nonstop, with programs for them to enjoy forests and experience some psychological healing. We've also invited some 9,000 students who have not been able to attend school to enjoy these programs.

We are seeing more common and wider occurrence of wildfires. What is the forestry service doing to prevent them?

This year, there have been many large wildfires, including a forest fire in Yeongdeok, North Gyeongsang. We will establish a pre-emptive forest disaster management system based on big data to respond quickly in the event of a forest fire. In addition, we will secure additional extra-large helicopters that can hold 8,000 liters of water for firefighting this year, and install roads in forests for efficient delivery and input of equipment and manpower.

BY KIM BANG-HYUN, ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]