Abstract
Korea’s Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) contains a wealth of what this volume calls “collateral values” ranging from undisturbed habitat and de facto protection for the peninsula’s rare and endangered species to conservation of a variety of cultural sites, both ancient and more modern, that have deep meaning for Korea’s people. This chapter examines the environmental history of the DMZ, illustrating how changes in both nature and culture since 1953 have helped to transform a relic of war into a symbol of peace. Although never intended to be permanent, the DMZ has radically altered the landscape of the Korean peninsula in ways that many inside both North Korea and South Korea, as well as across the globe, wish to make lasting. Because of its scientific, environmental, and cultural importance, the DMZ has become the object of preservation efforts even as reunification remains an important goal. This chapter argues that, in both its material and symbolic forms, the DMZ may reify the discontinuities between north and south but, in very important ways, it also serves as a green ribbon of hope, a place that commemorates the human sacrifices of military conflict and protects a variety of ecosystems and species that are found nowhere else on the peninsula.
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Notes
- 1.
Most Korean names in this chapter follow traditional Korean practice of placing the surname first and given names after. Where they do not, name order reflects how the individuals list their names in publications or correspondence.
- 2.
As of this writing in early 2018, the Kaesong Industrial Complex remains closed. Its future is not clear.
- 3.
The reasons behind this stunning change in policy have yet to be revealed, but there is speculation that a collapse at the DPRK’s nuclear testing facility at Punggye-ri under Mt. Mantap may have contributed (see, for example, Taylor 2018). Other factors may have included pressure from Xi Jin-ping, president of the People’s Republic of China, economic promises from ROK president Moon Jae-in, and changes in U.S. foreign policy under the Donald J. Trump administration (see, for example, Choe 2018 and DeThomas 2018). For the official ROK perspective on the April 27, 2018, Inter-Korean Summit, see http://www.korea.net/Government/Current-Affairs/National-Affairs?affairId=656, especially the text of the Panmunjeom Declaration (in English) http://www.korea.net/Government/Current-Affairs/National-Affairs/view?subId=641&affairId=656&pageIndex=1&articleId=3354. Accessed May 11, 2018.
- 4.
Terrestrial protected areas are totally or partially protected areas of at least 1000 hectares that are designated by national authorities as scientific reserves with limited public access, national parks, natural monuments, nature reserves or wildlife sanctuaries, protected landscapes, and areas managed mainly for sustainable use. Marine areas, unclassified areas, littoral (intertidal) areas, and sites protected under local or provincial law are excluded. Source: United Nations Environment Programme and the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, as compiled by the World Resources Institute, based on data from national authorities, national legislation and international agreements.
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Acknowledgements
The author wrote this chapter during her fellowship at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society (Munich, Germany). She would like to thank all the RCC staff and Fellows for their support. She also thanks Boise State University for supporting this research through a sabbatical award, as well as the volume editors for their keen insights, suggestions for improvement, and assistance in creating the maps.
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Brady, L.M. (2019). Valuing the Wounds of War: Korea’s DMZ as Nature Preserve. In: Lookingbill, T., Smallwood, P. (eds) Collateral Values. Landscape Series, vol 25. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18991-4_7
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