South Korean ‘Sacred’ Gariwang Mountain Scarred By Olympics Construction; Environmentalist Green Korea United Reportedly Dismiss Olympics Organizers’ Assurance To Replace Over 1,000 Trees

by Czarelli Tuason / Sep 17, 2015 11:04 PM EDT

Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics Winter Games sign at Yongpyong Alpine Center | By: Michael Heiman | Getty Images

Environmentalists in South Korea are protesting over the Olympics construction project over their "sacred" Gariwang Mountain to make way for a ski slope for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

VOA News reported on July 1 the ski slope will sit on a 500-year-old protected forest in Gariwang Mountain where the ground is already cleared of tens of thousands of trees - including rare ones - just a short distance away from the ski resort town of Pyeongchang in Gangwon province, South Korea.

According to The Guardian on Wednesday, the Gariwang Mountain will host Alpine skiing events that will last several days in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, which will be the third location in Asia to host the Winter Olympics Following Sapporo and Nagano in Japan.

The mountain forest of Gariwang is considered sacred because of its connection to the Chosun dynasty where a ruler named King Gal and his entourage fled to the high slopes of Gariwang for shelter when his kingdom was taken over. King Gal was said to look over his lost kingdom mournfully through the peaks of the then named "royal forbidden mountain."

In response to environmentalists strong disagreement with the Olympics construction on Gariwang forest, the Pyeongchang Olympics organizing committee said it will replant over 1,000 trees to restore the forest to its former state.

"It is difficult to imagine that they plan to replant trees that represent the ecological properties of Mount Gariwang," said a spokeswoman for Green Korea United. "We think their attitude is patronizing."

"Basically, it is not possible to restore the trees to their original habitat because of disturbance to the topsoil," professor of ecological economics and forestry policy at Seoul National University Youn Yeo Chang said. "The area comprises not only trees, but plants and small animals and other organisms, and the possibility that trees can be replanted there is not very high due to disturbance to soil systems."