Environmental and civic groups in North Jeolla Province have strongly opposed the Climate Energy and Environment Ministry’s approval of a large-scale park golf course inside Naejangsan National Park, calling it an “illegal decision disguised under a name change.”
In a press release on May 13, five organizations—including the Jeonbuk Environmental Movement Union—criticized the ministry’s National Park Committee for approving what they described as “a change to the Naejangsan National Park plan that relies on a phantom term with no legal basis, thereby undermining the conservation framework.”
According to the groups, the city of Jeongeup is pushing to build a 32-hole park golf facility covering 41,394 square meters—equivalent to six football fields—within the park’s natural environment zone.
The groups also raised suspicions of procedural manipulation. They noted that just before submitting the plan to the administrative authority, Jeongeup changed the project name from “park golf course” to “park golf experience facility,” despite the latter term not appearing in any existing laws.
Under the current enforcement decree of the Natural Parks Act, golf courses are prohibited, and park golf courses are not defined as authorized park facilities.
Further criticism was directed at procedural flaws. The ministry reportedly pushed the plan through based solely on its own interpretation, without seeking a formal legal opinion from the Ministry of Government Legislation. Moreover, the committee’s resolution allegedly failed to cite specific legal grounds.
The groups also highlighted a fairness issue: facilities restricted to six holes or fewer in urban parks were approved at more than five times that size in a national park.
“If this decision stands, it will open a Pandora’s box of reckless development across the nation’s national parks,” the groups warned. They demanded that the Climate Energy and Environment Minister halt the public notice of the park plan change and disclose the full decision-making process.
