CHUNGCHEONGNAM-DO — As the intensive control period for pine wilt disease approaches, Chungcheongnam-do is accelerating its efforts to remove affected trees.

On October 23, provincial officials, alongside representatives from Boryeong City and the Boryeong City Forestry Cooperative—totaling around 20 participants—inspected a pine wilt disease control site in Hyangcheon-ri, Cheongna-myeon, Boryeong-si.

Boryeong City is classified as a major affected area in the province, falling under the "severe" category for pine wilt damage. Following its designation as a special control zone on September 29, the city has operated a dedicated task force to focus on intensive control measures, including removing damaged trees and transitioning tree species.

During the site visit, participants shared the current status of control operations, monitored the progress of tree species transition sites using drones, and discussed on-site challenges and inter-agency cooperation.

Notably, the province successfully collaborated with relevant agencies to advance control operations in military facilities—areas that had previously faced difficulties in timely treatment due to access restrictions and delayed consent procedures.

Currently, major processes such as the felling of infected trees are underway at the military facility site, achieving an overall completion rate of 80% as operations speed up to meet the intensive control period deadline.

"To block the spread of pine wilt disease, it is crucial to swiftly and thoroughly remove infected trees during the intensive control period," said Ahn Gyu-won, head of the Mountain Management Division. "We will exert our utmost effort in on-site management to ensure the control project is completed on time."

He added, "We will continuously eliminate blind spots in areas where pest control has been difficult, such as military facilities, and concentrate our control capabilities on heavily affected areas to make every effort in halting the spread of pine wilt disease."

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