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Wildfires damage evergreen forest, fortress heritage sites in Ulsan

Published: 25 Mar. 2025, 12:53

SHIN MIN-HEE
[email protected]

A fire that spread to parts of the evergreen forest in Mok Island of Ulju County, Ulsan, spanning around 0.2 acres, has been extinguished as of 5 p.m. on March 24. [KOREA HERITAGE SERVICE]

Two more nationally designated cultural assets were confirmed to be damaged late Monday afternoon due to the wildfires that have been sweeping the country’s southeastern region since Friday.

A fire that spread to parts of the evergreen forest on Mok Island of Ulju County, Ulsan, a natural monument, has been extinguished, while a fortress site in Unhwa-ri, also in Ulju, was still being put out as of Monday 5 p.m. The scale of the damage to the latter is still under investigation.

According to the Korea Heritage Service, a total of five heritage sites have been affected by the blazes, including the Chiljoknyeong Pass on Mount Baegun in Gangwon as well as parts of the Duyang-ri Ginkgo Tree and two annex buildings of Dubangjae in Hadong County, South Gyeongsang. The fires have since been put out in the remaining properties.

There were 47 wildfires reported across Ulsan and areas in North and South Gyeongsang from Friday through Monday evening.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [[email protected]]