“They Said Not to Go In There...” Hiker Climbs Jeju’s ‘Sanbangsan Mountain’ Despite No-Entry Warning

[Financial News] The fine for a hiker who illegally entered a restricted-access area of Sanbangsan Mountain in Jeju, a national heritage site, was reduced on appeal.
According to legal circles on the 13th, the Jeju District Court’s Criminal Division 1, presided over by Judge Park Jeong-gil, recently overturned the lower court’s ruling sentencing A to a fine of 5 million won and instead sentenced A to a fine of 2 million won in an appeal of a case in which A was charged with violating the Cultural Heritage Protection Act.
The panel ruled, “Although the offense was serious, the defendant has admitted to the crime and is remorseful, and appears to have had no intention of damaging cultural heritage,” adding, “Considering the sentencing factors as a whole, the lower court’s sentence was too severe and therefore unjust.”
A was indicted for hiking to the summit of Sanbangsan Mountain in Andeok-myeon, Seogwipo, at around 5:36 a.m. on June 11, 2023, and entering a restricted-access area without permission. A was also reported to have posted a record of the hike on a hiking and outdoor GPS tracking platform.
Sanbangsan Mountain is National Scenic Site No. 77 and is known to have a high risk of rockfalls and falls. To prevent damage, among other reasons, it has been designated a restricted-access area through December 31, 2031. General visitors may view the mountain only from designated areas between the ticket office and Sanbanggulsa, located halfway up the mountain. Access to all other areas is prohibited.
Even so, incidents and accidents caused by unauthorized hiking continue. In 2023, hikers who got lost in a no-entry zone were stranded overnight before being rescued. In another case, all nine members of a group who climbed the mountain along an illegal route marked on a hiking app were caught at once.
Last May, a foreign tourist in their 60s got lost while descending after reaching the summit and became stranded among steep, sheer cliffs. It was reportedly a perilous situation: the SIM card in the tourist’s phone made calls difficult over domestic networks, and the phone’s battery was nearly depleted.
The tourist emailed the owner of the lodging where the tourist was staying to ask for help. Fortunately, the lodging business checked the email and called 119 at around 7:10 p.m. that day. Police and fire authorities deployed a helicopter and began rescue operations. After searching based in part on the phone’s location-tracking coordinates, they rescued the tourist about three hours after the emergency call.
Under the Natural Heritage Preservation and Utilization Act, anyone entering a restricted area must obtain permission from the Administrator of the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA). Violators may face a fine of up to 20 million won or imprisonment for up to two years under the Cultural Heritage Protection Act.
[email protected] An Ga-eul Reporter