The place I am climbing right now is Jirisan National Park.



Birothaeseo our video journalists am our vehicle team up carrying two hours after equipment with the team,



where we are going to go is indeyo must alpine coniferous forest habitats in the group between 1,900m above sea level at 1,600m,



the last one in this It is said that a mass death phenomenon is taking place in the past few years.



Until now, reporters from broadcasting stations said they had never come and filmed, but we, SBS reporters, will go and check it out with our own eyes for the first time.



It is a habitat for coniferous trees in Mt. Jiri at the crossroads of life and death.



The blue mountain slopes are tinged with gray.



All are dead or dying conifers.



Compared to the photos from 20 years ago, the difference in the color of the mountains is stark.



[Son Hyang-suk / Hiker: It's different last year, and it keeps increasing every year, so it hurts my heart to die.]



Climate change is considered to be an important factor in the recent mass death phenomenon.



The sub-alpine zone in Korea is usually a low-temperature zone with coniferous communities over 1,500 m above sea level, but an increase in average temperature and a decrease in the amount of snow in winter adversely affect the growth of conifers.



[Park Hong-cheol/Dr., National Park Research Institute (Forest Ecology): In spring, this tree begins to grow between April and early May. Because physiological problems occur when there is not enough water at that time... .]



It is estimated that there are 54,000 dead conifers in Mt. Jirisan, and in severe cases, the rate of withering is more than half.



In particular, the number of dead trees in the Cheonwangbong Peak area visited by reporters has increased more than five times in 10 years.



Spruce is one of the subalpine coniferous species.



The tree I see next to me is estimated to be 5 to 10 years old



in the alpine region

. When

this subalpine conifer dies, the leaves turn brown and then fall off, and only the gray, bare branches remain after the bark is split.



The challenge is to conserve the remaining conifers.



The Korean cypress tree, native to Korea, has already been designated as an endangered species by the international community, but it is not an endangered species due to the fact that there are still a large number of individuals in Korea.



[Seo Jae-cheol / Green Alliance Expert: Not only precise monitoring, but also many research personnel and institutions are required to simulate and predict how the next ecosystem will change.] If the



mountain is managed 10 years in advance, it can save the next 100 years. There is.



(Video coverage: Lee Seung-hwan, video editing: Hwang Ji-young, Kim Jong-tae, CG: Han Jeong-woo, Lee Ah-reum)