DMZ를 포함한 接境地域의 生態界 保存 및 土地 活用에 관한 硏究

Abstract

The global mood of reconciliation and cooperation in our entering the 21st century facilitates unification of the Korean peninsula and the DMZ that had divided Korean people ideologically will disappear before long. It is easy to expect that, with removal of the DMZ and dissolution of military confrontation, demand for development of the borders around the DMZ will be overheated under the pretext of both solving the problem of overpopulation and preparing an advance base for exchange between the North and the South. Considering that full recovery of an ecosystem destroyed by a war takes nearly 100-120 years, the trees currently inhabiting the DMZ are merely 20 years old. Thus, an ecosystem in there is still in its infancy and it is the only area that allows research on the effects of war on ecosystem. Therefore, what is in greatest concern now is to consider preserving the DMZ's ecosystem by utilizing its South due to cultural, ideological and economic gap between the two regions. This will prevent the social shock that may be created by unifying the cultural, ideological and economic gaps between the South and the North. Accordingly, it is essential to establish and enact a comprehensive master plan in advance so that such management plan can be put into operation promptly after reunification in order to prevent political and social chaos from arising in opposition to government policies. In addition, it is important to gain the people's consent to raise financial resources to manage the DMZ and its borders as a national heritage and to fully nationalize these areas. Nationalizing these areas is imperative even if it may limit those basic private property rights that are fundamental to a democratic welfare state. Also, we should formulate a plan to convert Korea from a country lacking natural resources to a nation of tourist attractions and rich ecological resources by utilizing those biological and ecological resources already present in the preservation area. Revenue raised from such tourism will help enable compensation for nationalized land, financial aid for economic development in the area that is presently North Korea and the costs of preserving and developing the areas ecosystem. In the development phase, a step-by-step development plan shall be established to minimize destruction of the ecosystem. Access to ecology preservation areas in some sections of the borders, including the DMZ, should be prohibited. Only existing transportation systems such as roads and railroads should be allowed. However, a method to establish overpasses through the DMZ should be considered, as long as it is technically viable. With respect to development of the area, we should cultivate world-class tourist attractions by considering the characteristics of each area and developing such diverse development models as special areas for security, ecosystem preservation, tourism and recreation, and nature studies. In promoting the aforementioned plan, policies should neither be partial nor misrepresentative. To prevent this, it is worthwhile to consider organizing a national supervisory system if necessary. In addition, it is important to be prepared for the chaos that may occur after reunification even before the said event. Thus, it is wise that the highest executives of the South and the North should draw up a mutually agreed protocol based upon suggestions made on specific alternatives of a plan for peaceful utilization of DMZ area in order to prevent such chaos after reunification. However, it was only recently that the ecosystem of the DMZ was surveyed and unfortunately, the results are not very accurate thus far. In addition, it is the second limitation of this paper that information on the DMZ and its borders in North Korea could not be used because the information was not disclosed. Thus, I would like to make it clear again that information is limited because access to the borders of military zone was restricted and a lot of aspects could not be disclosed due to military confidentiality. In addition, a basic premise of this paper, nationalization of the lands in the DMZ, causes the problem of limiting the basic rights of people guaranteed by the Constitution. Considering the importance of preserving Koreas ecosystem after the war, however, it is necessary to draw a conclusion that will both harmonize people and is reasonable. Therefore, more studies are required by experts on how to devise a plan where landowners are compensated appropriately.