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In Inje,
Gangwon Province, there is a pure white birch forest that is over 30 years old. It is a particularly popular winter attraction, with some visitors peeling trees and even graffiti damaging them.

I'm a reporter.

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750 meters above sea level, the basin in the high mountains is filled with white-clad birch trees.

The birch tree, standing upright on the ground, exudes a noble style in harmony with the pure white snow.

A 20-meter-tall tree trunk with almost no twigs stretches into the sky.

[Visitor: It's pretty, I think it's so white and pretty here.]

The forest began in 1989.

Over the course of seven years, we cut down the blight-infested pine trees and planted 7,70 birch saplings, and in more than 30 years it has become a dense forest.

The forest area alone covers 138 hectares, and 12,2 birch trees have grown strongly.

[Song Dong-hyun/Chief Officer of the Imperial Forest Management Center: Since it is a cold-tempered tree species, I know that it is native to North Korea's Paektu Mountain neighborhood or North Hamgyong Province, and there are only afforested birch trees on our South Korean side.]

It was designated as a national forest in 2008, and even during the last three years of the corona pandemic, it has been visited by an average of 3,25 people every year.

However, the influx of visitors continued to damage the forest.

It is a birch tree that visitors have peeled their bark. Traces of damage remain intact.

As the saying goes, "If you show love to a birch tree, it will last a long time," and the white bark was peeled off and turned black as if a scab had formed.

They would write names, scribble, and wound themselves with pointed tools.

The "No Vandalism" sign is also not ignored.

The birch forest, which has become a popular spot for natural ecotourism, is in dire need of improving the culture of exploration so that it is well preserved in a healthy manner.

(Video Interview: Kim Min-chul)