• Korean journal of communication and information
• /
• v.56
• /
• pp.219-236
• /
• 2011

Since the end of the $19^{th}$ century, Korean English-language newspapers have been published in Korea to inform readers about Korea and Korean people's point of view concerning world problems. Among them was the Korean Republic (KR), the former name of the Korea Herald, founded on August $15^{th}$, 1953 (Korean Liberation Day from Japanese colonial rule). This newspaper was started especially to report on international affairs, just after the Armistice agreement was signed on July $27^{th}$, 1953, at the initiative of the first president of the Republic of Korea, Syngman Rhee. He vehemently expressed his and the Korean people's opinion about Korean problems in world politics where big powers were dominating and deciding small countries' destinies. This paper is written to show that Korean English-language newspapers were used as tool of public diplomacy not only for the readers of target countries but also for Korean readers, well before the media diplomacy theory became popular several decades later. In the deplorable world situation where Korea was colonized and divided into halves by the wills of the super powers, the Korean media participated actively via dialogue in English to solve the Korean problem. This paper studies the editorials of the KR for one year, the year just after its foundation. Vis-a-vis the United States, the KR defended its political system of free democracy by insisting on the Korean people's hopes, the reunification of the peninsula and acquiring American assistance in economic and military areas. Regarding Japan, Korea had doubt about its expansionist policy by way of rearmament. First, the Korean government tried to defend its territorial waters, including Dokdo Island. As for multi-lateral relationships, Korea was concerned about the spread of communism to its territory in the world where socialism was dominating.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.91-101
• /
• 2021

This study attempted to conduct the study from a macro perspective more specifically through the temporal and spatial analysis of Minbuk villages according to a change in a Civilian Control Line, such as a social and spatial distribution and a change of the existing Minbuk villages. To this end, this study conducted the spatial analysis for the change in the Minbuk villages according to the adjustment of the Civilian Control Line in time series by using a map of the Armistice Agreement Vol. 2, Google Earth, a digital cadastral map, an administrative district map, and the like are used as spatial data, and summarizing and constructing, as attribute data, a statistical yearbook, Ministry of Defense and Cheorwon-Gun notification data, a Land Use Regulation Information System, and cadastral map attribute information. After the enactment of the Military Facility Protection Act, the analysis was performed on a 20-year basis based on the 1976 statistical yearbook of which the Civilian Control Line was drawn. As a result, the total area of the Civilian Control Zone in Cheorwon from 1975 to 2015 decreased by 105.8 km², and 9 of 14 Minbuk villages were released and only 6 villages existed. The unoccupied villages were analyzed as 14 villages, 10 fewer than the existing surveyed or statistical villages. The movement of the Civilian Control Line to the north may disappear the unique characteristics of the Minbuk villages but should be done carefully as it is closely related to the lives of the current residents, and policies should be established in terms of sustainable development and conservation of the villages. This study is significant in conducting the temporal and spatial analysis, which is the basis of the Minbuk regions and the Minbuk villages, and may be used as basic data necessary for subsequent analysis study.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.135-153
• /
• 2021

The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier with 248 kilometers in length and about 4 kilometers in width crossing east to west to divide the Korean Peninsula about in half. The boundary at 2 kilometers to the south is called the southern limit line. The DMZ has formed a unique ecosystem through a natural ecological succession after the Armistice Agreement and has high conservation value. However, the use of facilities for the military operation and the unchecked weeding often damage the areas in the vicinities of the southern limit line's iron-railing. This study aimed to prepare basic data for the restoration of damaged barren vegetation. As a result of classifying vegetation communities based on indicator species, 10 communities were identified as follows: Duchesnea indica Community, Hosta longipes Community, Sedum kamtschaticum-Sedum sarmentosum Community, Potentilla anemonefolia Community, Potentilla fragarioides var. major Community, Prunella vulgaris var. lilacina Community, Dendranthema zawadskii var. latilobum-Carex lanceolata Community, Dendranthema zawadskii Community, Plantago asiatica-Trifolium repens Community, and Ixeris stolonifera-Kummerowia striata Community. Highly adaptable species can characterize vegetation in barren areas to environment disturbances because artificial disturbances such as soil erosion, soil compaction, topography change, and forest fires caused by military activities frequently occur in the barren areas within the southern limit line. Most of the dominant species in the communities are composed of plants that are commonly found in the roads, roadsides, bare soil, damaged areas, and grasslands throughout South Korea. Currently, the vegetation in barren areas in the vicinities of the DMZ is in the early ecological succession form that develops from bare soil to herbaceous vegetation. Since dominant species distributed in barren land can grow naturally without special maintenance and management, the data can be useful for future restoration material development or species selection.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.52 no.1
• /
• pp.272-287
• /
• 2019

The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) was established in 1953 by the Korean War Armistice Agreement. It extends from the estuary of the Imjin River, in the west, to the coast of the East Sea. It is 4 km in width and 148 km in length. However, the ecosystems of the civilian control zone (CCZ) located between the southern border of the DMZ and the civilian control line (CCL) and the CCZ in the estuary of the Han River and the Yellow Sea are similar to those in the DMZ, and, therefore, the ecosystems of the DMZ and the CCZ are collectively known as the "ecosystems of the DMZ and its vicinities." The flora in the DMZ and its vicinities is composed of 1,864 species, which accounts for about 42% of all the vascular plant species on the Korean Peninsula and its affiliated islands. Conducting a detailed survey on the vegetation, flora, and fauna in the DMZ is almost impossible due to the presence of landmines and limitations on the time allowed to be spent in the DMZ. However, to assess the environmental impact of the Munsan-Gaesong railroad reconstruction project, it was possible to undertake a limited vegetation survey within the DMZ in 2001. The vegetation in Jangdan-myeon, in Paju City within the DMZ, was very simple. It was mostly secondary forests dominated by oaks such as Quercus mongolica, Q. acutissima, and Q. variabilis. The other half of the DMZ in Jangdan-myeon was occupied by grassland composed of tall grasses such as Miscanthus sinensis, M. sacchariflorus, and Phragmites japonica. Contrary to the expectation that the DMZ may be covered with pristine mature forests due to more than 60 years of no human interference, the vegetation in the DMZ was composed of simple secondary forests and grasslands formed on former rice paddies and agricultural fields. At present, the only legal protection system planned for the DMZ is the Natural Environment Conservation Act, which ensures that the DMZ would be managed as a nature reserve for only two years following Korean reunification. Therefore, firstly, the DMZ should be designated as a site of domestic legally protected areas such as nature reserve (natural monument), scenic site, national park, etc. In addition, we need to try to designate the DMZ as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve or as a World Heritage site, or as a Ramsar international wetland for international cooperation. For nomination as a world heritage site, we can emphasize the ecological and landscape value of the wetlands converted from the former rice paddies and the secondary forests maintained by frequent fires initiated by military activities. If the two Koreas unexpectedly reunite without any measures in place for the protection of nature in the DMZ, the conditions prior to the Korean War, such as rice paddies and villages, will return. In order to maintain the current condition of the ecosystems in the DMZ, we have to discuss and prepare for measures including the retention of mines and barbed-wire fences, the construction of roads and railroads in the form of tunnels or bridges, and the maintenance of the current fire regime in the DMZ.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.52 no.1
• /
• pp.216-241
• /
• 2019

There are 35 cultural properties of fourteen kinds in the Demilitarized Zone known so far, but this number is expected to increase in the future. Among them, Cheolwon-Doseong and Jeongol-Chong of Gimhwa should be the first step toward conservation efforts by conducting a joint investigation through the collaboration of North and South Korea. In particular, the joint investigation of Cheolwon-Doseong will not only remind the North and South that they are the same people who have had common history and cultural traditions for a long time, but will also give symbolic meaning to convert the demilitarized zone into a stage for peace. Since Jeongol-Chong is a mass grave of the fallen soldiers of Pyeongan Province who fought against the invasion of the Qing of China, it should be managed as a national designated cultural asset through joint investigation. In addition, the Demilitarized Zone should become a World Heritage Site because of its importance to the legacy of the Korean War, an international war caused by an ideological confrontation. Furthermore, it has more than 6,000 kinds of temperate forests in addition to 100 species of endangered species and natural monuments. The DMZ is very qualified to be a World Natural Heritage Site, and should be included as a World Complex Cultural Heritage Site that qualifies as a World Heritage and World Natural Heritage Site. In the Demilitarized Zone, we can also find numerous highlands, tunnels and posts used during the Korean War, as well as surveillance posts, a military demarcation line, barbed wire fences, and Panmunjom, which were created by the armistice agreement. it would be desirable to select some of its sections and war facilities and to register them as modern cultural heritage assets. Finally, it is necessary to reconstruct the Dorasan Signal Fire Site, which was the communication facility of a traditional era which connected the South (Dorasan) and North (Gaesong). This would symbolize smooth communication between the two Koreas. In order to prepare for the reckless development of the Demilitarized Zone due to the upcoming cease-fire, the government and cultural asset experts will have to work hard to identify and preserve the cultural properties of the Demilitarized Zone, and they will also have to maintain consistent control over matters such as indiscriminate investigation and mine clearance.