The demilitarised zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea is a heavily fortified 155-mile-long, 2.4-mile-wide buffer established after the 1950–53 armistice. The strip remains strewn with landmines and bordered by military installations, yet decades of restricted access have allowed nature to recover. South Korea's National Institute of Ecology has recorded nearly 6,000 species there, including over 100 endangered species, representing more than a third of the country's threatened wildlife. Varied terrain creates distinct habitats: western wetlands shelter migrating cranes while eastern mountains provide refuge for Siberian musk deer, Asiatic black bears and other threatened mammals. Limited human presence and physical barriers have inadvertently promoted conservation.
Standing on top of a small mountain, Kim Seung-ho gazes out over an expanse of paddy fields glowing in their autumn gold, the ripening grains swaying gently in the wind. In the distance, North Korea stretches beyond the horizon. It's so peaceful, says the director of the DMZ Ecology Research Institute. Over there, it used to be an artillery range, but since they stopped firing, the nature has become so beautiful.
Stretching 155 miles (250km) across the peninsula and 2.4 miles wide, the DMZ is anything but demilitarised. It remains one of the world's most heavily fortified borders, strewn with landmines and flanked by military installations on both sides. Yet, in the 72 years since the war ended, this forbidden strip has become an accidental ecological paradise. South Korea's National Institute of Ecology has documented nearly 6,000 species here, including more than 100 endangered species representing more than a third of South Korea's threatened wildlife.
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