A group of South Korean officials visited North Korea on Wednesday to jointly inspect forests for control of pests and diseases, the South’s Ministry of Unification said Wednesday.

A delegation of 12 officials, including those from the Korean Forest Service and Unification Ministry, as well as analysts from the state-run National Institute of Forest Science, crossed the military demarcation line at 8:40 a.m. and headed to North Korea’s eastern slopes of Kumgangsan, ministry spokesperson Baik Tae-hyun said during a regular press briefing.
 
The team was to return around 5:30 p.m. after inspecting one or two areas at Kumgangsan, Baik added.

The two Koreas agreed at a cross-border meeting held on July 4 to carry out a joint biocontrol program on North Korean woodlands, to control pests and diseases that could further damage the North’s woodlands.

The actual project will be carried out after assessing the results of Wednesday’s inspection.

Following the landmark summit between the leaders of two Koreas in April, Seoul officials have been focusing on mapping out a reforestation project, which would allow cooperation between the two Koreas without violating layers of international sanctions against the North. Restoration and modernization of roads and railways that run through the peninsula are viewed as projects of a similar nature.

A similar on-site inspection was carried out in July 2015 near Kumgangsan. A biological control program worth over 100 million won ($89,400) was implemented two months later.

North Korea’s decimated woodlands have plagued the Korean Peninsula for more than a decade. Some 2.84 million hectares of the North’s total forest area of 89.9 million hectares have been destroyed as of 2008, according to a report released by the Ministry of Unification in May, citing research by the National Institute of Forest Science. This is roughly 47 times the size of Seoul. The report is expected to be updated by the end of the year, as the survey is conducted every 10 years, according to the ministry.

Since coming to power in late 2011, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been making efforts to restore the environment of his country. In 2012, Kim announced a plan to plant 6.5 billion trees by 2023 and the country has held annual tree-planting events on North Korea’s Arbor Day, which falls on March 2.

Mountains in North Korea are believed to have suffered severe deforestation in recent decades, especially after a crippling famine swept through the impoverished nation in the mid to late-1990s, when people fell trees for fuel and to clear land for arable farmland. The country’s lack of preparedness and infrastructure for dealing with natural disasters, including floods and forest fires, contributed to the damage.

By Jung Min-kyung (mkjung@heraldcorp.com)