"오지 마세요"...몰리는 관광객에 제주 유채꽃 '파쇄'
Among the must-see sites on South Korea's southern island of Jeju are the canola flowers during spring.
However, with concerns over the mass gathering of visitors amid the coronavirus outbreak,... canola flower farmers have decided to destroy the fields.
Lee Seung-jae reports.
Four massive tractors pass through the field,... filled with canola flowers.
The flowers, which symbolize spring each year,... have now been destroyed,.... turning the field into a plot of barren land.
Ironically,... the reason behind the destruction of the flower fields,... is the very tourists who make this area a popular tourist destination in Jeju.
With visitors continuing to flock to the fields during the COVID-19 outbreak,... farmers had no choice, but to destroy them.
"There were requests from villagers to destroy the fields quickly, so we thought this would be the best thing to do to prevent tourists."
Due to the high elderly population on the island,... concerns over COVID-19 infection are high,... and most villagers agreed on the need to destroy the canola flowers.
The field measures 9-point-5 hectares,... a size which can fit 13 stadiums,... the size of Seoul World Cup Stadium.
In addition,... all the canola flowers along the Noksan-ro,... one of the top 100 beautiful roads in South Korea were destroyed, as well.
With the Canola flower festival also cancelled,... Seogwipo City announced it would support the villages impacted by the cancellation.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.
