Yeongcheon in North Gyeongsang Province has drawn up a mid- to long-term control plan for pine wilt disease and will overhaul its management strategy to focus resources on high-priority areas.
According to the city, since the disease was first detected in Jeonggak-ri, Hwabuk-myeon in January 2014, Yeongcheon has spent about 7.46 billion won ($5.57 million) over the past three years to remove 61,553 dead and dying trees, administer preventive trunk injections across 73.2 hectares, and convert tree species across 83.29 hectares.
However, a consulting study on control strategy found that roughly 250,000 trees require treatment at an estimated cost of about 20.8 billion won, making it impractical to treat all affected trees uniformly.
In response, the city said it will prioritize public safety, protect pine forests with high conservation value, and concentrate its budget and personnel in areas where control efforts are most effective.
Dead and hazardous trees near residential areas — including those along roads, farmland and hiking trails — will be removed first. High-quality pine forests around cultural heritage sites, tourist destinations, temples, Confucian academies and village groves will receive intensive preventive trunk injections, close monitoring and targeted control.
As of September 2026, the city has identified 56 sites containing 49,150 trees as preliminary candidates for protection as high-quality pine forests.
Field surveys will follow to finalize the list of protected trees, and the city plans to build a "high-quality pine forest protection map" recording the location, area, tree count and control history of each site.
Starting in 2027, the city will administer preventive trunk injections to designated pine trees as a priority, linking surrounding area control and intensive monitoring so that any newly affected trees can be removed quickly under a permanent protection system.
The plan unfolds in phases: residential hazard clearance and selection of protected sites in 2026–2027, followed by strengthened management of protected zones and expanded species conversion in 2028–2029.
From 2030 onward, the city plans to adjust management zones based on damage conditions and establish a sustained long-term management framework.
"We will proactively protect high-quality pine forests and concentrate resources where control is most effective," a city official said. "In severely damaged areas, we will restore healthy forests through species conversion and pass on these precious forest resources to the next generation."
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