128 80-year-old juniper trees were cut…The city of Daejeon was sawn without permission

Controversy is arising as Daejeon City has cut about 120 juniper trees planted in the former Chungnam Provincial Office. Chungnam Province, which owns the ownership of juniper trees, is demanding restoration of its original state, saying, “There was not enough agreement,” and the conflict is intensifying.

A juniper tree planted in the fence of the former Chungnam Provincial Office in Seonhwa-dong, Jung-gu, Daejeon. Daejeon City cut 128 juniper trees. [사진 독자]

According to the city of Daejeon and Chungnam Province on the 17th, Daejeon City has been promoting the’Communication and Cooperation Space Creation by Regional Bases’ project in the site of the former Chungnam Provincial Office in Seonhwa-dong, Jung-gu. It is a project to create conference/exhibition spaces, cafes, etc. by remodeling the former Chungnam Provincial Office Assembly Building and affiliated buildings by 2023. The project cost is 12 billion won, including 5.7 billion won in national expenditure. Of these, about 6 billion won is the cost of operating the program. This project was held by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security in December 2018 for local governments nationwide.

While promoting the project, the city of Daejeon demolished the 103m fence. During this process, 128 juniper trees planted in the fence were cut down and 44 were transplanted. The tree was cut from June to the end of November last year. The juniper tree is 70 to 80 years old.

An official from Daejeon City explained, “We decided to cut down juniper trees that do not have protection value and replant 44 trees elsewhere.” The city commissioned a specialized institution to determine the targets for transplantation and disposal in consideration of landscape, functionality, and economy.

A juniper tree around the old Chungnam Provincial Office cut down by Daejeon City. [사진 독자]

The problem is that Daejeon City did not properly consult with Chungnam Province, which owned the old provincial office building in this process. A Chungnam-do official said, “Daejeon City has made a request for approval in June of last year as it is necessary to remove juniper trees for the project to create a communication space.”

In response, Chungnam-do reported that Daejeon City said, “As the ownership of the provincial office building is transferred to the Ministry of Culture and Sports during the first half of this year, then consult with the Ministry of Culture and Sports.” He said, “I recently found out,” he said, “I made a request for restoration to Daejeon City on the 15th.”

On the 5th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Culture, who took over ownership of the building from Chungnam-do, issued an order to restore it to its original state on the 5th, knowing that the juniper tree had been cut off. Previously, the city of Daejeon visited the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism in December last year after cutting down the trees and requested a consultation on related construction, saying,’I am concerned about the safety of the fence of the former Chungnam-do government office.

Many of the juniper trees cut down by Daejeon City were planted by the Chungnam Provincial Office in the 1930s when they moved from Gongju to Daejeon. The former Chungnam Provincial Office building was designated as a nationally registered cultural property in 2002. Although the cut-off juniper is not a cultural property, it is evaluated that it has played an important role in the formation of the provincial office building landscape.

Landscape lighting built in the former Chungnam Provincial Office. Juniper trees are planted around the building. Central photo

The former Chungnam Provincial Office’s juniper was burned in 2006 in the process of protests against the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by protesters such as the KCTU, the Democratic Labor Party, and farmers. At that time, the demonstrators set fire to 220 trees, including juniper and boxwood, planted in a 100m wall to the left and right of the main gate of the provincial government and burned them all. Bricks and rebars, which are fence structures, were also torn down. At that time, the Daejeon District Law decided to compensate the protesters, and Chungnam Province bought some juniper trees and planted them again.

Daejeon = Reporter Kim Bang-hyun [email protected]