Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Animal-car collisions on highways most frequent in May-June
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By Jung Min-ho
May and June are the most dangerous months of the year for wild animals on Korean highways, according to data released on Friday.
Out of 6,078 car accidents involving wildlife across the country over the last five years, 2,342, or 38.5 percent, occurred in the two months, said the state-funded Korea Expressway Corp. (KEC).
Nearly half of the accidents happen during the early hours of a day, between midnight and 8 a.m., it noted.
Deer account for 84 percent of such crashes, followed by wild boars (6.3 percent) and Asian raccoon dogs (5.5 percent).
To minimize the risk of such accidents, drivers should pay attention to warning signs on the roads and, if a collusion is inevitable, it would be better not to swerve, which could lead to a more serious collision with other cars or fixed objects like trees, experts say.
As part of its attempt to reduce such tragedies, the KEC said it has built fences at high-risk areas while creating safe wildlife crossings.
Thanks to such efforts, the number of car accidents involving wild animals fell to 978 in 2023 from 2,545 in 2015.