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ICE Case Studies
Korean Demilitarized Zone as a Bioreserve
- Ann Nichole Neufeld
- Number:
52
- Mneumonic:
DMZ
- Description:
Korean Demilitarized Zone as a Bioreserve
1. Abstract
The Korean War never ended, due to the two sides, North and South, never coming to any sort
of peaceable agreement. The armistice, signed in July of 1953, is thought by many to be a sort of peace
agreement, but it was signed as a cease-fire, only. The only signatories to it were North Korea,
China and the United States. The fact that South Korea has never been party to any agreement
has assured that both sides may keep the war going. But the armistice has brought an
interesting and positive result. The armistice established a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that was
created with the intent of providing a buffer zone between the North and the South that would
help to preserve the armistice treaty. What Korean leaders did not foresee was that this area would accomplish great good outside
its original purpose. For 44 years, this 248 kilometer (151 mile) stretch of land separating
North and South Korea. It has come to provide an environment in which hundreds of species
of plants and animals (some endangered) have flourished as an result of the war-like conditions
surrounding the DMZ.
2. Description
The War
The Korean War began on June 25, 1950 with the invasion of South Korea by North
Korea's Kim Il Sung. Due to North and South Korea having viewed each other with fear
and/or disdain for decades before the war, hostility between the two sides was not new.
The South tended to view the more prosperous and developed North as brutal and
uncouth, while the North believed the South to be decadent and effete. The formal split
came in 1945 when the North and the South chose opposite sides at the beginning of
the Cold War.
The invasion by North Korea was viewed by much of the western world as a direct
strike by communism (directed by Moscow) on Korea. U.S. President Harry S. Truman
in his war message, dated June 27, 1950, claimed:
"The attack upon Korea makes it plain beyond all doubt that Communism
has passed beyond the use of subversion to conquer independent nations and will now
use armed invasion and war."
This message made evident that the U.S. was in agreement with other countries and
was apprehensive of such Cold War aggression. (It was only decades later that the
West discovered that Kim Il Sung acted of his own accord in initiating the invasion of
the South, receiving only the blessings of Stalin and Mao Tsu Dong to begin.)
The war dragged on for about three years, interspersed with unsuccessful peace
talks by the parties involved. "It was General Dwight D. Eisenhower, coming to office
as U.S. President in 1953, who forced the pace of negotiations to end the war" (
"A Potted History. . ., 97, 3
). The armistice was signed on July 27, 1953,
by North Korea, the U.S. and China, lacking only the signature of South Korea, who
refused to sign. It was South Korea's missing signature that has kept the two sides
officially at war since that time.
While the Korean war was seen as a seminal event in the unfolding of the Cold War
by the rest of the world, it had dire effects on Korea. It achieved nothing and resolved
nothing, leaving two regimes in the severed country at each other's throat for the next
half century. It also showed that while the Korean War was a civil war, is was
something larger, which larger powers fought on Korean soil (
"A Potted
History. . ., 97, 3
).
The Demilitarized Zone
The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) was created by the armistice at the end of the Korean
War in order to keep a safe and protected distance between North and South Korea. The DMZ,
in the words of one writer, is one of the most "phenomenal military edifices left on this planet
after the end of the Cold War" (
"Demilitarized. . ," 1997, 1
).
The DMZ extends roughly 150 miles in length along the 38th parallel and is two and a half
miles wide, or six miles wide, if one includes each country's "buffer zones." Buffer zones are
the two to three mile strips on either side of the DMZ, which are used to facilitate border
protection. The terrain is varied and spans Korea's multiple ecosystems, which range everywhere
from mountains to jungles to water land habitats. This strip of land has been untouched by
human hands since the signing of the armistice in 1953.
Since that time, the DMZ has become home to many species of plants and animals. Many
plants and animals thought to be extinct on the Korean peninsula, have been found in the DMZ.
This factor is significant because already more than 18 percent of Korea's vertebrate species are
endangered or extinct, including 60 percent of amphibians, 45 percent of reptiles, 13 percent of
birds, and 25 percent of mammals, due to Korea's continuing urbanization. Squeezing 1,230
people per square mile, South Korea is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.
Because the DMZ has been left alone for almost half a century, it has become an important
stop for birds on "the East Asia Migratory Flyway"(
Jordan, 1997, 1
). Rare
Manchurian Cranes and Siberian herons are two of the many birds that use the DMZ as a resting
place along their migration route. However, this strip of land has drawn more than just birds. In
1987, a group of South Korean scientists discovered "41 native and 40 rare species of plants,
along with 16 native and 8 rare species of fish in the three-mile wide South Korean buffer zone
adjacent to the DMZ." They also found 14 species of animals not previously know to live in
the area and 8 species that are known to be threatened or endangered (
Drohan,
1996,1
).
Recent reports show that the U.S. has voiced its willingness to take part in negotiations to
ban land mines. The one exception to this has been the roughly one million land mines used to
protect South Korea from an invasion by North Korea. Pentagon strategists assert that the land
mines are vital to thwarting any invasion by the 900,000+ troops posted along the DMZ (
Myers, 1997, 2
). The affect that land mines have had on the environment is not
discussed in the available sources although they do report that after almost 50 years of land
mines, any animal heavy enough to set off a land mine no longer lives in the DMZ.
The DMZ in its role as wildlife sanctuary is protected as long as the conflict between North
and South Korea is continues. Ironically, peace is the one thing that threatens the DMZ's
longevity. Environmentalists fear that if a peace treaty be signed between North and South
Korean, ambitious developers and lax environmental laws will conspire to ruin the DMZ. The
land's incredible natural beauty and its nearness to South Korea's capitol (Seoul is 20 miles
south), development will be in the exclusive price rage of the very rich, which means big profits
for the developers involved.
Dr. K.C. Kim, director of the Center for Biodiversity Research, has written and published
Biodiversity Korea 2000: A Strategy to Save, Study and Sustainably Use Korea's Biotic
Resources, a "blueprint" for biodiversity conservation for South Korea. Kim visualizes the DMZ
as an "eventual core of a larger network of protected areas across Korea, all connected by natural
corridors or greenways"(
Brown, 1996, 2
). With these ideas, Kim has been
proposing that the DMZ be officially converted into a system of bioreserves. These would offer
sanctuary for rare and endangered species of plants and animals. Also, it would offer an
economic boost for both the North and South Korean economies because it would provide
opportunities for "increasingly popular ecotourism and research of organisms which may have
medical and commercial uses" (
Drohan, 1996,1
).
The kidnaping of South Korean farmers in early 1997 and other petty violent act by both
North or South Korea, has made it increasingly clear that their [almost] fifty year conflict needs
to end. Kim sees the DMZ bioreserve as a way to enhance cooperation between the two Koreas,
in addition to its importance for conservation. "The environment is a benign, seemingly
apolitical issue on which the Koreans could possibly agree," observes Kim. Environmental
issues may be the least provocative way of breaking the ice"(
Drohan, 1996,1
).
3. Duration: 44 Years
The Korean War began on June 25, 1950 and "ended" (not completely) on July 27, 1953, although
the war between North and South Korea that keeps the DMZ intact continues to this day.
4. Location
- Domain:
Asia
- Site:
East Asia
- Impact:
North and South Korea
5. Actors: North and South Korea
One could also add other world actors to this list: 1) governments who are involved in
negotiations (China and the U.S.), and 2) environmentalists wanting to facilitate conservation
of the many species that have taken refuge in the
DMZ
.
6. Type of Environmental Problem: HABITat Loss
In the event that a peace accord is sign between North and South Korea, the habitat loss that
is threatened is that of losing of DMZ lands to developers and thereby losing all or most of the
plant and animal species that live there.
7. Type of Habitat: TEMPerate
8. Act and Harm Sites: North Korea and Korea
9. Type of Conflict: Inter-State [WAR]
10. Level of Conflict: HIGH
The Korean War conflict has not, to this day, been settled. While steps are being made by
both North and South Korea to resolve it, progress is slow and arduous (
Myers,
97
). Recent aggression by North Korea, which slows the peace process even further, has
included the shooting of a U.N. peacekeeper and the kidnapping of three North Korean farmer.
11. Fatality Level of Dispute: 6
According to
Arthur Hu
,who cites
Aviation Week
, there were
five million
civilian and military fatalities during the Korean War. Fatalities in the
last two decades have predominately centered around the DMZ. This is where the tensions of each
opposing side manifests, whether by soldiers visibly brandishing weapons well outside of the
security area or by a more overt taking up of defensive positions inside the security area, thereby
violating the armistice agreement (
Crowell, 96, 1
).
12. Environment-Conflict Link and Dynamics:
Causal Diagram:
13. Level of Strategic Interest: INTERnational
Due to the volatility of the region and the uncertainty of whether or not a bioreserve will
be considered once a peace agreement is settled on, and due to the integral part that both North
and South Korea play in its establishment, the level at which this is considered is at the
international level.
14. Outcome of Dispute: Stalemate
After 44 years of an armistice meant merely to silence guns long enough to arrange a peace
agreement, both North and South Korea would benefit from an end to the war. Without a peace
treaty, both side are free of all accountability leaving either side with the ability to violate
the armistice in any way, shape or form. a peace treaty, according to some, would "bind the two
sides to certain international norms" (
Myers, 1997, 3
).
As of early 1997, North Korean leader Pyongyang has agreed to move toward "something
more lasting" than the fragile armistice. This means that while it may not immediately entail
peace with South Korea, he does have his sight set on
at least
a peace treaty with the
United States (
Crowell, 1997, 2
). As of the date of this rendering, no treaty or
agreement has been finalized
although there have been other meetings between the parties most involved (North and South
Korea,
the U.S. and China).
The future status the DMZ is also in limbo. The wildlife contained therein are at the mercy
of North and South Korea and the decisions regarding future amicability.
15. Related ICE and TED Cases
ICE Cases
TED Cases
16. Relevant Websites and Literature
- Between Two Worlds
[Online]. (1997, November). Available e-mail:
http://rd-gk.ntv.co.jp/prog.eng/nature/between.html
- Brown, Nancy Marie.
Green DMZ
[Online]. Research/Penn State, Vol. 17, No. 2,(1996,
June). Available e-mail:
http://www2.
deasy.psu.edu/rps/jun96/dmz.html
- Crowell, Todd.
Crossing the Line: North Korean Troops Stage a Show of
Force Along the DMZ
[Online]. Asiaweek (1996, 19 April). Available e-mail:
http://www.pathfinder.com/@@Qp7LXAYAaTaE1GLc/
Asiaweek/96/0419/nat1.html
- The Demilitarized Zone Is Anything But
[Online]. (1997,November).
Available e-mail:
www.
megastories.com/nkorea/glossary/dmz.htm
- Drohan, Joy.
Could Korean Demilitarized Zone Become a Bioreserve?
[Online].
Technology Review, (1996, August/September). Available e-mail:
http://www.voyagepub.com/publish/stories/0996bio9.htm
- Hu, Arthur.
War and Genocide Victims: Arthur Hu's Index of Diversity
[Online]. Available e-mail:
http://www.leconsulting.com/arthurhu/index/genocide.htm
- Jordan, Mary.
Wildlife Fourishes in No Man's Lands
The Washington Post,
(October 8, 1997).
- Kirschbaum, Erik.
Wildlife Flourishes in Berlin's "Death Strip"
[Online].
Planet ENN, (1996, November 18). Available e-mail:
http://www.enn.com/planetenn/111896/feature3.htm
- Myers, Steven Lee.
One Step at a Time: Why Washington Likes Land
Mines
. New York Times (1997, August).
- Myers, Steven Lee.
It Takes One to Start a War, but Four to Make
Peace
. The New York Times (1997).
- Old Myths Of North And South
[Online]. (1997, November). Available e-mail:
http://megastories.com/nkorea/
glossary/local.htm
- Royce Visits DMZ In Korea
[Online]. (1997, March). Available e-mail:
http://www.house.gov/royce/asia4.html
- Summers, Jr., Colonel Harry G.
The Korean War, A Fresh Perspective
[Online].
(1997, November). Available e-mail:
http://www.thehistorynet.com/MilitaryHistory/articles/0496_cover.htm
- A Very Potted History Of The Korean War
[Online]. (1997, November). Available
e-mail:
http://www.megastories.
com/nkorea/glossary/war.htm
- The World Factbook on North Korea
[Online]. Available e-mail:
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/nsolo
/factbook/ks.htm
- The World Factbook on South Korea
[Online]. Available e-mail:
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications
/nsolo/factbook/ks.htm#FlagMap
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