South Korea Government Forges Alliance to Promote Wood Use
From Hanok wooden homes (traditional Korean) to ancient temples, wood has long been a primary construction material in Korea, with some structures standing for over a thousand years. Today, modern wood technology is set to transform the building industry of Asia’s third-largest economy, launching an era that could open a number of opportunities for the Canadian wood industry to build on this momentum.
The South Korean government is committed to increasing the use of wood in future construction to help achieve the country’s carbon neutrality target. The strategy also aligns with that of the Seoul Metropolitan Governmentwhich is encouraging more wood use in public and commercial buildings, tourist facilities, municipality buildings and so on. To crystalize the strategy, an MOU was recently inked between the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Korean Forest Service(KFS), the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MoLIT) and the National Agency for Administrative City Construction (NAACC). The consensus sets South Korea on a clear path invest in wood construction which will have a positive knock-on effect on the Canadian forest industry.
South Korea’s growing focus on sustainable construction promotes the environmental benefits of wood products and systems. Canada Wood Korea prioritizes its efforts to facilitate the use of wood in industrialized buildings (multi-storey/multi-family residential, non-residential and tall wood mass timber) and to foster prefabrication. Our program aims to remove barriers to the use of wood, build capacity through education, expand and strengthen government contacts, and provide technical support and guidance to the sector.