Gained Word-of-Mouth Fame, Left in Ruin... Rotting Stench and Maggots

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Many people have sought refuge in cool valleys rather than scorching beaches during this unusually hot summer. However, when our reporting team visited valleys that have recently gained word-of-mouth popularity in the metropolitan area, we found them suffering severely from illegally dumped trash.

Reporter Kim Gyu-ri brings us the scene from the field.

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This is Sillim Valley in Gwanaksan Mountain, which went viral on social media this summer.

With a knee-deep water level, it is perfect for children to ride tubes and enjoy playing in the water.

As it is accessible by public transportation, visitors have more than doubled compared to last year, but unpleasant sights have also multiplied.

A leftover watermelon has been discarded whole in a corner of the valley, already swarming with bugs.

[Gwanak Sillim Valley Safety Guard: A lot of people come to drink at night. Often, we fill up four of the largest trash bags. This was probably eaten early this morning.]

Myeongji Valley in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, is a favorite among vacationers. We visited early in the morning alongside local government valley keepers out to collect trash.

Trash was scattered around vacationers enjoying the water, and leftover food was even abandoned inside its containers.

[Gapyeong Myeongji Valley Keeper: Even kimchi containers like this. Leftovers. Watermelon. Good thing it is not kimchi. Ugh, the smell.]

Various fruits were left rotting in boxes, alongside ramyeon packages, snack bags, beer cans, and even used baby diapers.

[Gapyeong Myeongji Valley Keeper: People stuff trash into rock piles and just leave it behind, which brings out things like maggots.]

Some people even abandoned bulky disposable tents and large tubes before leaving.

[Gapyeong Myeongji Valley Keeper: They bring things that are bound to break to play with, and then just leave them all behind when they go.]

After cleaning up for about 30 minutes with the valley keepers, ten 50-liter trash bags were filled to the brim.

Some vacationers even cut through steel fences to enter restricted areas without authorization.

[Yoon Ho-young / Stream Management Team, Gapyeong County Office: They climb over the fences. This is a cliff here. We blocked it off because falling could be fatal, but when we block it off, they cut through it to get inside.]

Warning signs prohibiting cooking and camping posted everywhere have proven useless, prompting some valleys to conduct special crackdowns this summer.

[Nowon District Office Stream Management Team: We consider until the end of August to be peak season, so we are deploying personnel accordingly.]

A mature civic consciousness is urgently needed to keep these precious valleys clean and safe—valleys that help us forget even the murderous heatwaves.

(Photo courtesy of Lee Byeong-ju | Video editing: Ahn Yeo-jin | VJ: Noh Jae-min | Design: Cho Soo-in)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.