[Anchor]

The scars of record-breaking torrential rains remain visible across Geoje and Tongyeong in South Gyeongsang Province. Along the coast, fishermen are struggling to clear piles of washed-up debris, while restoration work moves slowly in remote island villages that are difficult to access.

KNN reporter Choi Hyuk-gyu brings us the report from the scene.

[Reporter]

Tree branches, discarded Styrofoam, and plastics are tangled together all along the shoreline.

This is the trash washed ashore by the heavy downpours.

Fishermen board boats to approach the coastline and pick up the debris piece by piece.

This coastal area is difficult to access from the land.

As you can see, trash is scattered all along the coastline, leaving fishermen with no choice but to come in by boat to collect it.

Because of the garbage, fishing operations have become nearly impossible, forcing them to put their livelihoods on hold.

[Lim Young-gi / Chairman, Geoje Coastal Tongbal Autonomous Community: Due to the currents, plastic bottles, milk cartons, and various other household wastes are getting trapped inside our fish traps.]

The Korea Coast Guard has also stepped in to collect marine debris from the sea.

They even deployed spill response vessels typically used for recovering oil.

The marine debris collected in just a single day amounts to about 5 tons.

The wounds left by the heavy rain also hit the island village of Hansando in Tongyeong.

Poured-down soil and trees blocked pathways used by residents.

Mounds of dirt even pushed right up to the back of houses.

Because it is an island, bringing in restoration personnel and equipment is difficult, leaving residents overwhelmed with no idea where to begin.

Restoration work only began after the Coast Guard and the Navy were deployed.

[Jung Soon-ja / Resident of Hansando, Tongyeong: It is such a huge relief and we are so grateful that they came out in this hot weather to help us. There are no words to express how thankful we are.]

The Coast Guard and the Navy plan to continue focusing their restoration support on coastal areas and islands.

[Ok Hyun-jin / Chief of Tongyeong Coast Guard Station: For residents in isolated island areas with poor transportation, we will actively support them using patrol vessels and other means to help them recover their daily lives.]

More personnel and equipment support is urgently needed for coastal areas and island villages that remain hard to reach.

(Video by: Ahn Myung-hwan, Kwon Yong-guk / KNN)

Choi Hyuk-gyu, KNN