By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
The national park management authority has decided to demolish unauthorized monuments set up on mountains by climbers to commemorate their dead colleagues.
The Korea National Park Service (KNPS) said Monday that it will remove memorial monuments in Bukhansan National Park, which includes Mount Bukhan and Mount Dobong, from April 1 through May 15.
``Monuments newly established after the period will also be pulled out immediately,'' an official of the park service said.
There are 140 monuments in the Bukhansan Park ― 52 copperplates and 88 tombstones. People have complained that they damage the natural environment and degrade the scenery.
``There were also concerns over possible forest fires, as families and friends of the deceased sometimes lit fires for memorial services,'' the official said.
The number of monuments is especially large in the park, which has many cliffs where people rock-climb. Families of climbers who died there and members of their mountain clubs have set up memorial monuments where they fell to their death ― there are dozens of monuments around Insubong, one of the peaks there, making it seem like a public cemetery.
``Setting up such monuments is illegal. But we could not insensitively remove them, as the families regard the monuments as tombs. We first planned the removal in 1996 but suspended it, because it was not easy to get cooperation from the families and climbing organizations,'' the official said.
According to law, the KNPS can remove objects in national parks, which cause problems in their management and preservation.
The service is launching the project now after reaching an agreement with major climbers' groups to set up a joint monument at the foot of Mount Bukhan around June.
``Although the clubs agreed with us, it is a different matter whether each family will agree and abide by the decision. We'll have a grace period by March 31 so that they can voluntarily remove the monuments. We'll also keep the removed monuments until the combined one is set up,'' the official said.
The KNPS will hold a hearing Thursday to explain the plan to the families.