Removal of illegally landfilled waste in Naewari, Ulju-gun, Ulsan, to begin on the 13th of next month

【Financial News, Ulsan — Choi Soo-sang, reporter】The cleanup of illegally landfilled waste in Naewari, Ulju-gun, Ulsan, has finally taken a step toward resolution. With the detailed design for administrative enforcement complete, the removal and treatment of waste, long delayed, is expected to get underway in earnest late next month.
According to Rep. Kim Tae-seon of the Democratic Party of Korea (Ulsan’s Dong District) on the 27th, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment sent Ulju-gun more proactive guidelines for administrative enforcement on the 8th. After receiving them, Ulju-gun began the detailed design for the enforcement and completed it on the 23rd. Based on the design, Ulju-gun plans to begin full-scale administrative enforcement on November 13, following a bid for a waste removal and treatment contract on November 6.
The process had been delayed because Ulsan City and Ulju-gun, despite securing a budget of 11 billion won to treat illegally landfilled waste in the Naewari and Bogan-ri areas, had been unable to proceed with administrative enforcement. This is reportedly because Ulju-gun interpreted the instructions of the ministry in charge too passively. Rep. Kim Tae-seon criticized the authorities for allowing the process to drag on without administrative or legal certainty about waste treatment and removal procedures, thereby only increasing residents’ suffering and anxiety.


Rep. Kim Tae-seon also strongly criticized Ulju-gun’s passive administrative approach and the resulting delays in administrative enforcement at the parliamentary audit held on the 6th. In response, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment resent Ulju-gun an official letter setting out clear administrative enforcement procedures, leading to the detailed design.
Going a step further, Rep. Kim is preparing an amendment to the Waste Management Act to eradicate illegal landfilling nationwide, drawing on the case in Ulju-gun. The plan is to eliminate blind spots in oversight by introducing a system that tracks the movement of waste used for filling and covering, as well as recycled aggregates, all the way through.
In particular, the plan is to substantially toughen penalties for illegal acts, imposing up to 10 years in prison or a surcharge amounting to 10 times the illegal proceeds, and to apply “aggravated punishment for environmental crimes, etc.”
Rep. Kim stressed, “The key to preventing recurrence is to make the cost of illegal landfilling far greater than the profits it brings. I will ensure that the administrative enforcement in Naewari, Ulju-gun, is completed without a hitch, while also expediting legislative amendments to root out illegal landfilling nationwide.”


[email protected] Choi Soo-sang Reporter