Historical Change and Significance regarding the Management and Utilization of
Forest Resources in Korea
Eui-Gyeong Kim
College of Agriculture, Gyeongsang National University, 900 Gaswadong, Chinju 660-701, Korea,
Email: egkim@nongae.gsnu.ac.kr
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is how the management and utilization of the forest resources in Korea has
been historically changed, and eventually how it has been influenced by such changes.
According to the actual conditions of the forest resources, the Korea government has been
aggressively involved in the creation and management of the forest resources, which could
be done by the common consensus of the Korean people which believe the forest resources
provide the valuable environmental services.
For income sources of the people in mountain villages, the prime source in the mountain village
until the early of 1970s was coming from the sales of timber, but since then, timber cutting was
sharply decreased at a minimum by the afforestation policy of the government. After all,
insufficient income of the mountain villages had been supplemented by non-timber forest
products such as chestnuts, shiitake mushrooms, pine mushrooms, and so on.
In the 1990s, the tourism income was added newly in the mountain villages according to the
government policy such as the natural resources in the mountain villages were closely linked to
tourism income, and new demands for seeking foods and medical goods in the forest were
created with the increased concern of the people for health.
Based on the cases in Korea, it is considered required to make the people recognize
progressively the environment service, beneficial effects of health promotion and the tourism
attractions provided by forests as well as the introduction of the multiple-use forestry system to
provide various services and forest products. And this will make considerable contribution to
the efficient management of the forest resources and the income sources of residents of the
mountain village.