Surrounded by the Yellow Sea to the west, the East China Sea to the south, and the Sea of Japan to the east, South Korea forms the southern part of the Korean peninsula, just south of its controversial North Korean neighbour after the nation’s sundering in the 1950s Korean War. With a land area of just over 100,000 square kilometres, including 3,300 mostly desert islands, more than 60% of its territory is covered by forest.

Despite the forest cover, and…