What's New
MU-CEL assists in the conservation and sustainable development of Korea’s Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
Professor Michael Jeffery was invited as one of six international environmental experts to address the 2005 Ecocity International Symposium on appropriate legal frameworks for the conservation and sustainable management of the DMZ and surrounding areas. This symposium organized by Gangwon-do Province, the Hankyoreh Newspaper and the DMZ Special Committee of the Korean Federation of Environmental Movement (KFEM) – Friends of the Earth (Korea) and sponsored by the Organizing Committee for DMZ Forum of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea and the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs of the Republic of Korea was held over four days at the National Assembly in Seoul and the Eulji Observation Tower within the DMZ in Yanggu-gun, Gangwon-do, South Korea. It included a field trip to the Civilian Control Zone of the Cherowon Basin , to view flocks of red-crowned cranes, white–naped cranes, both of which use the DMZ as a winter resting area on their Western migratory route from Eastern Siberia . The final day of the Symposium held at the Eulji Observation Tower concentrated on the role of local communities.
The DMZ corridor was established as part of the 1953 Armistice Agreement between the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) – North Korea , the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) and the United Nations Forces including the Republic of Korea – South Korea . It stretches for 246 km from East to West and comprises a 2km wide demilitarized zone on either side of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) forming the border between North and South Korea .
Thus, the 4km-wide DMZ has functioned as a border zone between the two countries for just over 52 years during which time it has been devoid of all human habitation, a phenomenon rarely seen in the populous nations of Northeast Asia. During this time the low lying mainly agricultural lands within the corridor in the West and forested uplands and mountains in the East have recovered from the severe disturbances of the pre-war and war years and today represent one of the most pristine areas in its ‘natural’ state remaining on the peninsula and the subject of much recent debate on how to ensure that it retains protected environmental sanctuary status in the future.
Both North and South Korea have established buffer zones on their respective sides of the DMZ, both of which are heavily patrolled for the purposes of enforcing the Armistice Agreement. For its part the South has established a Civilian Control Zone (CCZ) of 3 to 12 kms with an average width of 5.4km wherein, until recently, development was prohibited. Beyond that is a transition zone wherein development pressures have increased considerably in recent years.
The symposium was attended by members of the ROK National Assembly, NGOs and local government officials and dealt with a number of proposals designed to preserve and conserve the DMZ and its surrounding buffer areas. These ranged from designating the entire corridor or at least specific sections of it running from coast to coast across the Korean peninsula under the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Program, to turning the area into a transboundary peace park and/or seeking international World Heritage recognition as a natural and cultural site under the World Heritage Convention.
The six international experts whose participation was funded by the organizers of the symposium in included Professor Jeffery (Australia); Richard Register – Ecocity Builder; (USA), Zbigniew Niewiadomski, Chair of UNESCO International Advisory Committee for Biosphere Reserves, (Poland); Hal Healy, International Crane Foundation, (USA); Kai Frobel, BUND - Friends of the Earth, Germany, and Andrei Kotlyar, Russian Academy of Science.
The papers presented at this symposium have been translated into both the English and Korean languages and published in book form. A copy of Michael’s paper can be accessed from the MU-CEL website at http://www.law.mq.edu.au/MUCEL/jeffery/jeffery_pubs.htm
Zbigieniew Niewiadomski, Kai Frobel, Ma Yong-Un, Tatiana Lee and Andrei Kotyar.
Symposium Venue - National Assembly Library Audiotorium, Seoul, Korea.
Choi Joo Young, Kim Hye Jeong and Michael Jeffery QC.
Andrei Kotyar, Michael Jeffery and Tatiana Lee.
ROK Military Personnel, Yanggu.