[제보는Y] 도로 한 가운데 '수영장'...농촌에서 더 심각한 사유지 도로 분쟁 / YTN

[Anchor] It's a road people have been using for a long time, but there are quite a few places where landowners have blocked it, saying it's not safe to pass. This applies not only to urban areas but also to rural areas. It's hard to simply dismiss rural sentiment as something that hasn't changed. This is a scene where private property rights and right of way clash. Reporter Y, Ji-hwan, reports. [Reporter] Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, is a quiet mountain village. A stream flows right next to it. It's a road wide enough for one car. But there's a "No Trespassing" sign. It looks as if the entire area is private property. Let's explore further. As we drive up the road, what appears right in the middle of the road is, yes, a swimming pool. It's even surrounded by concrete. The owner of the house next door built it on his property, which is part of the road. A large container is even placed next to the pool. The gap between the pool and the container is about 1 meter wide. Vehicles are not allowed, only people can pass. The road doesn't end here. There are houses and people living above. There are fields where peppers and sesame were grown. With the access road blocked and cars unable to pass, farming has been abandoned, and only weeds have grown thickly. The upstairs neighbors are having trouble getting necessities. [Upstairs neighbor: As you can see, the boiler room is out of gas. (Boiler room?) The gas can't come in because of the traffic jam. The gas is also running low.] The entire road isn't private property. In fact, most of the surrounding village is state-owned land. A dispute between neighbors over private land, including a portion of the road, escalated into a dispute. A fight started over noise and dust in the car, escalating into verbal abuse, swearing, and cussing. In a fit of anger, I asserted my property rights, leading to a lawsuit. [Resident who installed the swimming pool: I was determined to open it if they'd just open and close the gate. (But) they go around the neighborhood cussing us out, saying we're bad for putting up a gate, and that three generations are begging for it.] County officials and police have been to the scene several times, but there's no effective solution. Some passageways that have been used for decades are suddenly blocked. This is the Daegwallyeong pension complex in Pyeongchang earlier this month. There's a long line of vehicles. The road is blocked, and tourists are stuck. Dozens of 112 calls were made, and the police were dispatched, but the car parked in the middle of the passageway remained unmoved all night. This is a photo we received of the scene at the time. As you can see, the car blocked the road. This is where it is. Now, as you can see, the car is free to move. What happened? The roadblock is owned by a nearby horse ranch, and the owner of the ranch land is the Korea Forest Service. A few years ago, the ranch owner who leased the state-owned land suddenly erected a fence. [Affected pension owner: That's right. They forced it. There were guests, and it was peak season. Over a hundred guests were trapped. They leased the state-owned forest and turned it into a horse ranch. (And then) they started claiming ownership of the road.] Those trying to leave the pension had to hurriedly descend the unpaved mountain road next to the cabbage field. Why did they block the road? The ranch owner claims it's not a road. [Ranchor who leased state-owned land: This isn't a road, it's land within the ranch. It's a pasture road within the ranch. We need to fence it to keep the horses out. There's also a risk of theft...] The pension owners are demanding that the ranch owner and the Korea Forest Service terminate the national land lease agreement. However, the Korea Forest Service says the land is already leased to a private entity and that the county office must first designate it as a road. [Eastern Regional Forest Service... (omitted) YTN Ji-hwan ([email protected]) ▶ Original article: https://www.ytn.co.kr/_ln/0115_202208... ▶ Report: https://mj.ytn.co.kr/mj/mj_write.php ▣ Subscribe to YTN YouTube Channel: http://goo.gl/Ytb5SZ ⓒ YTN. Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited.