South Korea to establish 800km national pine wilt disease prevention belt

The Korea Forest Service has announced the implementation of a ‘National Prevention Belt’ to halt the spread of pine wilt disease. This initiative involves creating state-led defense zones at least 2km wide around affected areas to protect clean forest regions.

With approximately 1.77 million pine trees already damaged nationwide, the project aims to build a total of 800km of prevention belts along major spread routes by 2030. The strategy includes customized measures such as forest management, preventive tree injections, and species conversion depending on local conditions. The agency will also conduct continuous state-led monitoring and surveillance.

A pilot project is scheduled to begin in the second half of this year in the national forests of Uljin and other northern Gyeongbuk regions. Following the verification of effectiveness, the program will expand sequentially starting in 2027.