[Edaily Reporter LEE YUN-JEONG ] Mountain TV announced on the 5th that its special UHD documentary series “The Silent Forest” has won the Grand Prize in the “Program of the Month” awards for December 2025, selected by the Korea Communications Standards Commission. This award marks Mountain TV’s fourth selection for “Program of the Month,” following “Coastline,” “Rivers of Korea,” and “The Age of Mass Extinction: The Forest,” once again demonstrating the network’s capability to produce high-quality documentaries.

Cho Seung-ho, Chairman of the Broadcasting, Media, and Communications Review Committee, praised the documentary, saying, “Based on two years of reporting, seasonal field recordings, and meticulous sound collection, this environmental documentary captures the changes in the forest through the unique lens of ‘sound.’” He further explained, “By moving beyond a human-centered perspective to deeply observe the language of life and the order of the ecosystem as conveyed by nature, the documentary addresses the pressing issues of our time—the climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity—by going beyond mere information delivery. Through stunning visuals and the expansion of sound into a visual language, it elicits empathy and reflection from viewers.”
“The Silent Forest” is a documentary that examines the reality of ecosystems shaken by biodiversity loss through the sense of “sound,” capturing the patterns of these changes. Actor Yoo Ji-tae provided the narration, adding depth to the film’s message. Yoo Ji-tae said, “I’ve always been very interested in the environment, and I participated because I resonated with this documentary’s high quality and its message of public interest,” adding, “I hope this film serves as an opportunity to reflect on other living beings and consider a life of coexistence with nature.”
Director Na Su-jeong remarked, “While climate change is often cited as the cause of biodiversity loss, the actual primary cause is the loss of habitat due to roads, apartment complexes, and golf courses.” She continued, “I wanted to convey the message that the everyday lives we’ve taken for granted were built on the very ground from which these creatures were displaced, and that we must now listen to their ‘voices’ to take responsibility for this.” Producer Koo Tae-hoon added, “This work is not a warning but an invitation to empathy and love; I hope it serves as an opportunity for us to listen to the voices of the living beings we have turned a blind eye to.”

Forest*

This work was selected for the Public and Public Interest Documentary category of the Korea Broadcasting and Telecommunications Promotion Agency’s Broadcasting Program Production Support Project. More than 20 experts from academia and the field contributed their expertise through consultation and interviews, and the direction—which likened the sounds of the forest across the four seasons to an orchestra—was met with positive reactions from viewers, who found it particularly impressive.