The de-territorializing forces of war – destruction, deforestation, mining, human loss – have also engendered the re-territorializations of nature, transforming the DMZ into a precious reserve of biodiversity in the rapidly expanding and urbanizing context of the Korean Peninsula. Embodying the dichotomy of the boundary as the ‘space of the worst and the best’, the DMZ has been described as a Garden of Eden, a Walled-off Paradise, or an Involuntary Park, in reference to the untamed nature that has developed within the cease-fire lines and in the adjacent military areas. Crossing the peninsula from East to West, the linear enclave represents a cross section of Korean landscapes and cuts through a variety of ecosystems and topographies from the sacred mountain of Keumsangang to the delta of the Han and Imjin Rivers. The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that has divided the Korean peninsula since 1953 is in fact one of the most highly militarized borders in the world, and continues to be a line of tension between North and South Korea.
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