• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.355-363
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• 2015

DMZ(Demilitarized Zone) created as part of the Armistice Agreement is important zone in the way that historic and eco-cultural value as well as military and political image of this are remarkable. Furthermore, the concern of DMZ has been rising at home and abroad. Even though various studies on this subject have been constantly spurring according to the significance, the practical researches on spatial range of DMZ are very weak. The Purpose of this research is to show the factual spatial extent of DMZ from the mouth of the Imjingang River in the west to the town of Goseong in the east. This study proved the area of corresponding DMZ is approximately $570km^2$ contrary to the previous studies and claims it is difficult to measure the actual length of MDL(Military Demarcation Line) regarded as 155mile in this situation of Korea peninsula.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.163-175
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• 2012

In spite of the ecological value of the DMZ, there have not been established guidelines for sustainable conservation and use on the DMZ and adjacent area. In this study we suggested a method about zoning the conservation and utilization area considering environmental data and the characteristic of the DMZ region, and we make the guideline for conservation of the DMZ region based on the zone. Using 10 legal protection areas, the Environmental Conservation Value Assessment Map (ECVAM) and the boundaries of the DMZ region, we evaluated this region into conservation areas, management areas, and utilization areas. The results showed that as much as 91.8% of the DMZ region was evaluated as conservation areas, 6.9% as management areas, and 1.3% as utilization areas. After consultation with experts we suggested management principles, the direction, and the guideline based on the planning process considering the evaluation map. The study suggests principles and guidelines for management, and the guidelines could be a effective tool for the sustainable conservation and management strategy of DMZ region.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.303-340
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• 2010

The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of Korea has been crucial not only for its buffering role between two Koreas, but also for the conservation of various resources across its premises. The objectives of this study is threefold. The first objective is to identify major resources that determine economic values of the DMZ and its vicinity. The second and third objectives are respectively to estimate conservation values of those resources using Choice Modeling and to test whether or not respondents living in different geographical locations have significantly different willingness to pay for the conservation. In a very conservative estimation, results showed that Korean adults have about 55,000 Won on average for conserving five major resources : the DMZ area, endangered species, cultural heritage items and sites, the Truce Village, and villages in the Civilian Conroal Zone. This equals the aggregate economic value of about 2,07 trillion Won. Moreover, significant regional differences were found in public benefits from conserving these major resources.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.39-59
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• 2019

The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) has the great ecosystem as all the artificial activities in DMZ have been prohibited over half a century. The ecosystem should be conserved even after the reunification of Korea and hence the conservation plan should be established not after the reunification but before it. It requires a considerable budget to conserve DMZ, considering management of ecology resource, recovery, and research. The objective of this paper is to analyze a fund-raising measure for DMZ conservation, using economic incentives mechanism when multiple developers participate in the auction to get the right to develop North Korean regions, have private information about their sunk costs and pay a part of their profits for the fund. First, we analyze the real option model to decide the optimal investment time. Second, we construct the auction for bidders not to misrepresent their private information, based on Bayesian Nash equilibrium.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.94 no.2 s.159
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• pp.117-120
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• 2005

This study was conducted to estimate population size and investigate habitat characteristics for the conservation and management of Amur goral Nemorhaedus caudatus raddeanus in DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) of Gangwon Province in South Korea from November 2003 to May 2004. The Amur gorals counting were carried out by assistance of military soldiers who guards the southern boundary of DMZ. Four hundred sixty individuals were estimated as total population size in DMZ of Gangwon Province. Deciduous forest, rocky area and coniferous forest were dominant land cover types in habitat of Amur goral. DMZ and its vicinity of Gangwon Province are very important areas for the conservation of this species. It is needed to establish management plan for the conservation of Amur goral and their habitats in DMZ.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.617-643
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• 2019

The Demilitarized Zone(DMZ) is a buffer zone set between the southern and northern limit lines established after the 1953 Armistice Agreement. It is an important natural environment conservation area where wild species of animals and plants live. On the other hand, the development pressure on the DMZ will increase when the inter-Korean economic cooperation is activated in the future. As a result, DMZ development should consider not only the economic cost-benefit aspects, but also how to assess and conserve the biodiversity of the DMZ, as well as the recovery costs and budget. This paper develope a sustainable DMZ management model under biodiversity uncertainly by using real option approach. The model is also designed to reflect the political risk and regional specificity of the DMZ. Through empirical analysis, I derive the biodiversity threshold (b^*) that can secure the DMZ investment economy under uncertainty. In addition, through the sensitivity analysis, I derive the factors influencing the biodiversity threshold, and suggest the policy implications for sustainable management of DMZ.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.268-287
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• 2022

This study reports newly discovered seven forest wetlands in the western part of the Korean Demilitarized Zone-Civilian Control Zone ecoregion. The wetland assessment criteria proposed by National Arboretum were adopted to evaluate four fields: vegetation and landscape, biogeochemical cycle, hydraulics and hydrology, and social-cultural-historical landscape and disturbances. Among seven wetlands located in Gimpo and Paju, five were of the fallow field type and two were of the natural type. A total of 474 plant species were recorded, including nine rare plants, such as the Carex capricornis Meinsh. ex Maxim. Three forest wetlands were sorted into A-grade, three into B-grade, and one into C-grade. Monitoring forest wetlands scattered across the border area ruled by military regulations can be challenging; still, as forest wetlands with high conservation value turned out, further investigations through remote sensing and cooperation by the relevant agencies will be required.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-24
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• 2022

This study was conducted to perform efficient conservation and management by classifying the types of wetlands distributed in forests of Korea and assigning grades according to the evaluation system from 2015 until 2019. From 2005 to 2014, 1,264 sites derived from the first national forest wetland survey and 16 additional excavated sites were classified and also evaluated 455 out of a total of 1,280 forest wetlands. Forest wetlands are divided into four types: natural type, abandoned paddy field type, man-made type, and modified type, and by reclassifying them in detail, a total of 11 detailed wetland types could be distinguished. Based on this, evaluation was performed according to various items such as plants and ecology, hydrology and hydrology, humanities and society, and the degree of disturbance was graded. As a result, the forest wetland value was sorted at 30 A- grade sites, high-value B-grade 201 sites, moderate C-grade 184 sites, and low-value D-grade 40 sites. Forest Genetic Resource Reserve (FGRR) and other effective area -based conservation measures (OECMs) were designated for 231 sites that received a high grade of A or B, and a long-term monitoring system should be established to systematically conserve forest biodiversity hotspot. It is judged that wetlands need to be managed more effectively and at the national level.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.242-257
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• 2019

The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) stretches two kilometers north and south from the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) of South and North Korea. This area was established as a weapons-free buffer zone when an armistice agreement was signed in 1953. However, there have been several very high-tension military standoffss over the past 65 years. On the South Korean side, civilian access to the Civilian Control Line (CCL) and beyond to the north has been restricted, and natural heritage has been well maintained. Natural heritage is defined as living things, their habitat and non-living things of the ecosystem which deserve to be protected. Research shows that a variety of flora and fauna, their habitat, marshes and geographical structures are found across the DMZ region. Although the DMZ region has not been such a good place for habitat conservation, we can say that this area may be the best location for restoration in terms of its variety of ecosystems and considerable land size. Restoration of course depends on future plans and management policies. This area, including the DMZ and the well-protected north of the CCL, will be the best habitat for endangered species of wild fauna and flora if we classify the various habitat types and create a habitat map. In doing this project, we need to include the estuary of the Han River and the lagoon (brackish water lake) of the East Sea coast. In addition, we must establish long-term plans for conservation and sustainable use and do international scientific research across the DMZ region in collaboration with scientists of South and North Korea and international experts. Mutual cooperation between the two Koreas for investigation and conservation efforts is paramount.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.95-104
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• 2006

The DMZ is a 248km long thin green line which has various landscapes of fields, hills and mountains. This study focused on western part of DMZ and vicinity which consist of abandoned rice paddy, wetlands and fields. The main purpose of this study is to detect the vegetation vitality from the western part of MDL to DMZ vicinity and identify and quantify ecological buffer(ecotone) width adopting logistic function derived from 'Vegetation Index-distance curve' using an Landsat ETM+ image acquired on June of 2002. Green leaf vegetation was quantified to identify the ecotone buffer in western DMZ and vicinity(civilian control area: CCA) using Transformed Vegetation Index(TVI) which is one of common measurement among various indices. Vegetation measurement from Military Demarcation Line(MDL) to vicinity area was investigated at 500m intervals to 10kms of southern and northern part of western DMZ and vicinity. The Logistic function models the sigmoid curve of growth with three stages of growth of initial competition and maturity. In the TVI-distance logistic curve, the maturity is high vegetation vitality, the competition is vitality changing, and the initial is low vitality. In the TVI-distance curve, maturity area of high TVI value is core area for ecological conservation, and the competition area between inflection points can be an ecotone(ecological buffer). In case of southern part, maximum TVI value is 221.92 and minimum is 207.16, and maximum TVI of northen part is 215.32 and minimum is 188.35. That means forest devastation of north Korean part of DMZ and vicinity is severer than that of south Korea. The width of core area for ecological conservation is 2,311m, and ecotone in the southern part is 5,339m, so minimum width from MDL for ecological conservation can be computed as 7,651m. In case of Northern part, the width of core area is 1,841m, and ecotone buffer is 5,014m, so ecological conservation width can be estimated as 6,855m. In case of northen part, width of estimated core area is less than that of DMZ width, which means ecological disturbance is very severe in northern part of western DMZ.