The government has designated waters off Daeryeongdo in Incheon and Gyeoknyeolbiyeoldo in South Chungcheong Province as marine protected areas, bringing the total number of such zones in South Korea to 40. The designation also adds the country's second large-scale marine protected area exceeding 1,000 square kilometers, following Jeju's Gwantalto last year.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced Sunday that it would designate 1,050.18 square kilometers of waters surrounding Daeryeongdo, Gadeokdo and Mokdeokdo in Ongjin-gun, Incheon, and the Gyeoknyeolbiyeoldo islands in Taean-gun, South Chungcheong Province, as a marine ecosystem protection zone. The area serves as a key habitat for marine protected species including the finless porpoise and the ancient murrelet.
The newly designated waters are a major habitat for the finless porpoise, an internationally endangered species and a protected marine animal. The area is also a resting ground for various seabirds, including the ancient murrelet and the streaked shearwater, and is considered ecologically significant. The ministry said the designation would extend its protection framework beyond coastal areas to offshore habitats for marine protected species.
The new protected zone covers 1,050.18 square kilometers, making it the second domestic marine protected area to exceed 1,000 square kilometers, after the Jeju Gwantalto marine protected area — designated in April last year — which spans 1,075.08 square kilometers.
With this addition, South Korea now has 40 marine protected areas in total: 18 wetland protection zones, 18 marine ecosystem protection zones, 3 marine species protection zones and 1 marine landscape protection zone. The ministry said it expects the designation to contribute to meeting the international target of conserving and managing at least 30 percent of land and ocean as protected areas by 2030.
"Designating marine protected areas is not simply about regulation — it is about enhancing the asset value of our seas and building ecosystem resilience," said Hwang Jun-seong, the ministry's director general for marine environment policy. "We will actively develop support measures that allow conservation and coexistence with local communities."
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