The Korea Forest Service (Director Lim Sang-seop) visited Gangneung City in Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, which suffered from large-scale forest fires, to inspect the recovery status and check the response system for future forest fire prevention. Gangneung City, which experienced consecutive large-scale forest fires in 2019, 2022, and 2023, is considered an area requiring thorough preparation.
The Yeongdong region of Gangwon Province historically had heavy snowfall, but recently, due to climate change, dry weather and strong winds have become more frequent, increasing the risk of forest fires. In response, Gangneung City has been operating its Forest Fire Prevention Headquarters early since January 1st, and has strengthened its 24-hour surveillance system by concentrating forest fire monitors in vulnerable areas. Additionally, the city operates specialized forest fire prevention and suppression teams to enable rapid initial response when forest fires occur.
During this visit, the Forest Service inspected the operation status of firefighting helicopters and the utilization of mobile water tanks at the Gangneung Forest Aviation Management Office. Lee Mi-ra, Deputy Director of the Forest Service, emphasized that “cooperation between forest fire-related agencies and local residents is essential to protect people’s lives and property from forest fire disasters” and stated that “we will establish locally customized forest fire response strategies in cooperation with Gangneung City and further strengthen surveillance systems and prevention activities.”
Moving forward, Gangneung City plans to continue implementing forest fire prevention policies tailored to local characteristics and will make all-out efforts to prevent large-scale forest fires in cooperation with the Forest Service.