Fatal pine illness felling trees nationwide

Officials with the Korea Forest Service inspect white pine trees suspected of being infected by the pine wood nematode.

Blight is caused by pine sawyer beetle

Following a recent outbreak in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, a tree disease fatal to pines has been found in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province.

According to provincial and forest control authorities, three Korean white pine trees on a small mountain in the Chuncheon area were found to have been infected by Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, or the pine wood nematode. The disease is caused when an adult pine sawyer beetle infects the needles of a pine tree. No treatment has been developed, though research is underway to isolate the fatal disease, perhaps by using a natural enemy of the pine sawyer beetle.

The disease was first found in South Korea in 1988. Since then, it has infected around 7,900 hectares nationwide. It is the third time that the disease was confirmed in Gangwon Province following two outbreaks in 2005. The latest case brought to 55 the number of provinces and cities affected.

Bursaphelenchus xylophilus was found last month in Gwangju, in the southeastern part of the peninsula. The Korea Forest Service then inspected a total of 5,600 pines across the country, which is when it discovered the most recent infection in Gangwon Province. All of the trees inspected have died of blight.

The authorities set up a task force as part of efforts to prevent the spread of the pine wood nematode, and recently imposed a ban on movement of trees in and out of the infected area.

"This pine tree killing disease had been known to affect trees mostly in southern areas, but it has started to move north, afflicting even those in the middle and northern parts of the country," an official said. But the official noted that this does not mean there is an outbreak of a mutated version of the disease.

The forest service said its preventive efforts have been effective in keeping the disease at bay, and urged citizens to keep an eye out for any signs of outbreak in pine trees in their area.

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