NadeThe DMZ: An Ecosystem Left Empty for 70 YearsDMZ: 70년간 사람이 비운 생태계
The world's most heavily armed border accidentally became one of Korea's richest wildlife refuges.
The Demilitarized Zone is a 248-kilometer strip running coast to coast across the peninsula, about 4 kilometers wide. It was drawn by the armistice signed on 27 July 1953, which ended the fighting of the Korean War without ending the war itself: each side pulled its troops back 2 kilometers from the front line, and the empty band in between became the DMZ.
Because almost no one has farmed, built, or hunted there since, the zone turned into something nobody planned. Surveys by Korea's National Institute of Ecology have recorded roughly 6,100–6,200 species in the DMZ area, including about 102 of the 267 species listed as endangered in South Korea — Korean goral, musk deer, leopard cat, Asiatic black bear, and several globally threatened cranes among them.
Today the strip itself remains closed to civilians. What visitors can see is the Civilian Control Zone just south of it, where farmland, wide skies, and winter cranes coexist with checkpoints and barbed wire. In a simultaneous crane census by a civic coalition in the winter of 2021–22, the Cheorwon plain alone hosted about 6,710 cranes — more than half of all cranes wintering on the peninsula. It is a landscape where the sadness of division and an unusual quiet abundance sit side by side.
비무장지대(DMZ)는 한반도를 동서로 가로지르는 길이 248km, 폭 약 4km의 띠다. 1953년 7월 27일 정전협정으로 만들어졌는데, 전쟁을 끝낸 것이 아니라 전투만 멈춘 협정이었다. 양측이 전선에서 각각 2km씩 물러나면서 그 사이에 사람이 없는 공간이 생겼고, 그것이 DMZ가 됐다.
70년 넘게 농사도, 개발도, 사냥도 거의 없었던 탓에 이 땅은 아무도 의도하지 않은 결과를 만들어냈다. 국립생태원 등의 조사에서 DMZ 일원에서 확인된 생물은 약 6,100~6,200종에 이르고, 국내 멸종위기종 267종 가운데 약 102종이 이곳에서 기록됐다. 산양, 사향노루, 삵, 반달가슴곰, 그리고 세계적으로도 위협받는 두루미류가 여기에 포함된다.
지금도 DMZ 안쪽은 민간인이 들어갈 수 없다. 우리가 볼 수 있는 것은 그 남쪽의 민간인출입통제선(민통선) 일대다. 논과 넓은 하늘, 겨울 두루미가 초소·철책과 함께 놓여 있는 풍경이다. 2021~22년 겨울 시민단체의 두루미류 동시조사에서 철원평야에만 약 6,710마리의 두루미류가 확인됐는데, 한반도에서 월동하는 두루미의 절반이 넘는 수다. 분단의 아픔과 뜻밖의 고요한 풍요가 나란히 있는 땅이다.
If you go가신다면
Getting there.가는 법. Cheorwon: intercity bus from Dong-Seoul Bus Terminal to Dongsong/Cheorwon (about 2 hours), then taxi to the Crane Peace Town in Yangji-ri, where the escorted Civilian Control Zone birding bus departs. Paju: Gyeongui-Jungang Line train from Seoul to Munsan Station, then local bus or taxi (about 15 min) to Imjingak. Goseong: express bus Seoul to Sokcho (about 2.5 hours), then local bus north toward Daejin.
Tips.팁. Anything inside the Civilian Control Zone must be entered with an authorized guide or tour bus — bring your passport, and expect an ID check at the checkpoint. Photography toward military posts, checkpoints and soldiers is prohibited; your guide will tell you when cameras are allowed. For cranes, stay in the vehicle or at the hide, keep your voice low, and never approach or flush the birds; drones are not permitted. The Cheorwon plain is one of the coldest inhabited places in South Korea in winter, so dress in layers. This is a place of ongoing division, not a theme park — a quiet, respectful manner goes a long way.
Best time.가기 좋은 때. Late November to February for wintering cranes; May to October for green landscapes and the Yanggu plant garden.
Places in this story이야기 속 장소
- Cheorwon DMZ Crane Peace Town (철원 두루미평화타운, Yangji-ri)
- National DMZ Native Plant Garden (국립DMZ자생식물원, Yanggu)
- Imjingak Peace Nuri Park (임진각 평화누리, Paju)
- Goseong Unification Observatory & DMZ Museum (고성 통일전망대·DMZ박물관)
Sources (6)출처 (6)
- The DMZ runs about 248 km across the peninsula and is roughly 4 km wide, created when both sides withdrew 2 km from the front line under the 27 July 1953 armistice. — Korean War Armistice Agreement text (USFK): https://www.usfk.mil/portals/105/documents/sofa/g_armistice_agreement.pdf ; Britannica, 'Demilitarized zone (Korean peninsula)'
- Surveys credited to Korea's National Institute of Ecology have recorded roughly 6,100–6,200 species in the DMZ area. — National Institute of Ecology via Google Arts & Culture: https://artsandculture.google.com/story/animals-living-in-the-dmz-national-institute-of-ecology/twVRv8x4gE_fWw
- About 102 of South Korea's 267 endangered species have been recorded in the zone, including Korean goral, musk deer, leopard cat and Asiatic black bear. — Natural History Museum (London): https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2023/february/rare-look-at-the-wildlife-thriving-in-north-koreas-dmz.html
- In the 2021–22 winter simultaneous crane census by the civic coalition 'DMZ일원 생명평화시민연대', about 6,710 cranes wintered on the Cheorwon plain — about 54% of the 12,403 cranes wintering on the Korean peninsula. — 한겨레 2022-09-20 '한반도 찾는 두루미 68% DMZ에서': https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/area/area_general/1059366.html
- Cheorwon's DMZ crane-watching tour departs from the Crane Peace Town in Yangji-ri twice daily (10:00 and 14:00), takes about two hours, and is closed on Tuesdays. — 철원DMZ두루미생태관광협의체 / 강원일보: https://kwnews.co.kr/page/view/2023111614012751364
- The National DMZ Native Plant Garden in Yanggu conserves around 1,100 plant species, about 61% of the plants native to the DMZ area. — 국립DMZ자생식물원 (Korea Forest Service) reporting, 강원 양구군 펀치볼로 916-70
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