Forestry Successor Selection: Requirements and Documents — 3 Hectares of Forest, Forest Product Cultivation Standards and the Business Plan for Forestry Policy Funds

Procedure

1. 1. Decide whether you apply as a forest owner or as a forest product grower

   The forest owner type covers people under 55 who manage or intend to manage forestry under a forest management plan and who are children of individual exemplary forest managers, owners of 3 hectares or more of forest (including forest owned by lineal ascendants or descendants, a spouse or siblings in the same household), or lessees of 10 hectares or more of national or public forest or holders of a profit-sharing forest. The grower type has no age requirement and covers people who produce or intend to produce forest seeds and seedlings, mushrooms, bonsai, wildflowers, wild vegetables and similar products on a site at or above the standard size in the notice. If you already produce, you must be able to officially prove that you own, lease or rent the cultivation site and are engaged in production.

2. 2. Complete training and prepare the forest management plan

   A person who intends to start cultivating forest products must have graduated from a forestry-related university department or a forestry high school, or have completed 40 hours or more of forestry training at the Korea Forest Service's Forest Education Institute or an education institution designated by the Korea Forest Service. Online training is recognized for up to 50 percent of the hours, with a maximum of 20 hours. Because the forest owner type requires management under a forest management plan, prepare documents showing that the Mayor, county head or district head has approved a forest management plan prepared by the forest owner or a forestry engineer.

3. 3. Prepare the business plan

   A person who intends to start cultivating forest products must own a cultivation site at or above the standard size in their own name (including the name of a family member in the same household) and draw up a business plan. The business plan must include the project name, project period, project direction, investment plan, schedule for each project, sales plan for the products and expected effects. After selection, the city or county visits the site according to this schedule to check progress.

4. 4. Apply for selection and receive the forestry successor certificate

   Submit the application for forestry successor selection to the Mayor, county head or district head where the owned forest or cultivation site is located. If the forest or site lies in two or more cities, counties or districts, apply where most of it is located, and time spent on opinion inquiries to other areas is excluded from the processing period. When the city or county reviews the requirements and recommends you, the selecting authority (the Mayor or Do Governor, or a delegated city or county head) confirms them and issues a forestry successor certificate.

5. 5. Post-selection training and the policy fund business application

   A forestry successor must complete training of 20 hours or more at least once at a designated education institution or the Korea Forestry Successors Association within 3 years of selection. To receive the Comprehensive Forestry Project Fund, submit a business application to the managing institution (the local government for loans combined with subsidies, and the forestry cooperative for pure loans), and support recipients are decided after review of business feasibility, capacity, credit status, financial structure and funding plan and deliberation by a committee. For loans combined with subsidies where the requested amount is 30,000,000 won or more, the local government asks the forestry cooperative for a feasibility review and credit investigation, and the cooperative reports the results within 10 days.

Required documents

• Application for forestry successor selection (Korea Forest Service Regulation on the Selection of Forestry Successors and Designation of Exemplary Forest Managers, Form No. 1)
• Documents proving the forestry successor requirements (proof of forest ownership or national forest lease, or ownership, lease or rental of the cultivation site)
• Documents confirming the same-household relationship when applying with forest or cultivation sites in a family member's name
• Forest management plan approval documents (Creation and Management of Forest Resources Act, Article 13, forest owner type)
• Certificate of 40 hours or more of forestry training, or graduation certificate from a forestry-related university department or forestry high school (when intending to start cultivating forest products)
• Business plan (project name, period, direction, investment plan, schedule, sales plan and expected effects, when intending to start cultivating forest products)
• Business application for the Comprehensive Forestry Project Fund (Execution Guidelines for the Comprehensive Forestry Project Fund, Form No. 3, when applying for policy funds)
• Letter of authorization (when submitted by a representative)

Fees

Generally from tens of thousands of won to several hundred thousand won in the industry. We give a quote after consultation depending on whether you apply as a forest owner or a grower, the length of the business plan, and whether the Comprehensive Forestry Project Fund business application is prepared together. Government fees are separate.

See fees and official charges for this service →

Legal basis and review date

• Forestry and Mountain Villages Development Promotion Act, Article 2
• Forestry and Mountain Villages Development Promotion Act, Article 17
• Enforcement Decree of the Forestry and Mountain Villages Development Promotion Act, Article 2
• Enforcement Decree of the Forestry and Mountain Villages Development Promotion Act, Article 3
• Enforcement Rule of the Forestry and Mountain Villages Development Promotion Act, Article 3
• Enforcement Rule of the Forestry and Mountain Villages Development Promotion Act, Article 21
• Standards for Forestry Successor Requirements (Korea Forest Service Notice)
• Regulation on the Selection of Forestry Successors and Designation of Exemplary Forest Managers (Korea Forest Service Directive), Articles 3 to 5-2
• Regulation on the Operation of the Comprehensive Forestry Project Fund (Korea Forest Service Directive), Article 3
• Regulation on the Operation of the Comprehensive Forestry Project Fund (Korea Forest Service Directive), Article 8
• Creation and Management of Forest Resources Act, Article 13

Checked against the statutes on 2026-10-09

Statutes and public notices change, so each case needs to be checked individually. Statute titles are given in English for reference. The Korean statutes are the authoritative text.

Check these first

• Selection may be cancelled if the requirements are lost after selection, and it must be cancelled if it was obtained by false or fraudulent means. If your forest ownership or cultivation status changes, check with the city, county or district in advance.
• To obtain a forestry successor confirmation more than 2 years after selection, documents proving the requirements must be submitted again, so keep records of forest and cultivation site ownership and production.

Frequently asked questions