The Ministry of Environment (Minister Kim Wansup) announced that, as of the end of June, 711,000 tons (95.6%) of the 743,000 tons of disaster waste generated by the wildfires in Ulsan, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Gyeongsangnam-do in March 2025 had been processed.

By region, the processing rates were: Ulsan (Ulju) 100% (800 tons), Gyeongsangbuk-do (Andong, Yeongdeok, Yeongyang, Uiseong, Cheongsong) 95% (704,000 of 737,000 tons), Gyeongsangnam-do (Sancheong, Hadong) 100% (6,000 tons).

By type, 680,000 tons (96%) of the approximately 708,000 tons of disaster waste generated from the demolition of residential, commercial, and agricultural facilities destroyed or partially burned was processed, and 31,000 tons (88.1%) of the 35,000 tons from 65 wildfire-damaged factories was also processed.

This disaster waste disposal was a swift response completed just two months after the wildfire recovery plan was finalized by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on May 2 this year, made possible by the Ministry of Environment and local governments expediting administrative procedures and on-site actions, including national funding support, to help affected residents quickly return to normal life.

The Ministry promptly allocated KRW 142 billion in national funds, including KRW 112 billion from the supplementary budget, to the affected local governments and closely managed the status of local governments’ service contract signings, a key cause of delays in disaster waste disposal, to ensure swift contract execution.

In addition, the regional environmental offices under the Ministry of Environment and Gyeongsangbuk-do conducted weekly inspections of wildfire waste collection, transport, and disposal sites, and actively managed processing progress to prevent delays.

The Ministry and local governments plan to immediately process the remaining 30,000 tons of disaster waste (about 5% of the total) from wildfire-damaged homes and small factories once demolition is completed.

Meanwhile, the Ministry and local governments have established a response system to ensure the stable disposal and management of disaster waste from potential floods caused by this summer’s monsoon and typhoons. 

To begin with, the Ministry prepared and distributed the “Guidelines for Estimating and Managing Flood Disaster Waste” to local governments and disaster-related agencies nationwide to enable systematic waste volume assessment from the early stages of flood recovery, and completed training for local government officials on June 27. 

In addition, local governments across the country have secured a total of 1,300 temporary transfer sites (with a capacity of 6.12 million tons) to swiftly and effectively remove various types of flood disaster waste, such as electronics and household items, from flooded homes in the event of flooding.

* Annual flood disaster waste generation: 92,000 tons in 2022, 86,000 tons in 2023, 42,000 tons in 2024

Kim Go-eung, Director General of the Resources Circulation Bureau, stated, “We are doing our utmost to manage and dispose of disaster waste to support the swift recovery of wildfire-affected areas.” He added, “We will also make every effort to ensure that there are no delays or secondary environmental damage in handling flood waste during the summer.”

For further information, please contact the Public Relations Division. 

Contact person: Gina Lee, foreign media spokesperson

Phone: +82-44-201-6055

Email: gcjgina @gmail.com