In my previous reports, I discussed the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve designation for the South Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone hat the South Korean government had requested in 2012. The local officials and the South Korean government submitted the request in their efforts to protect the unique ecology in the DMZ and the Civilian Control Zone region (CCZ, or the region directly adjacent to the DMZ and stretching from the west to east coast of the peninsula) (Mok). However, many remarked that the rather rushed nature of the actual proposal, including the lack of discussions with North Korea and involving their part of the DMZ and the failure to come to an agreement with the locals who were concerned that it would bring limitations to urban development. 

The UNESCO Biosphere Reserve is one example of different environmental designations that the South Korean government either requests to a third party (such as a non-governmental organization like UNESCO and Ramsar) or a relevant department under the government system (such as national parks). For example, the Mt. Halla region in the Jeju Island has been designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2002, with the total area spanning over around 45 percent of the entire Jeju Island province. Some of the protected areas include the Hallasan National Park, Beomseom Natural Reserve, Seoogwipo Marine Park, and much more (WNH Jeju).

To connect from some of the nationally designated areas in the Jeju Island Biosphere Reserve, there are 20 national parks in South Korea covering 6.5 percent of the total area of the country. However, even with other designations such as Natural Reserves and Marine Parks, it has been shown that there are many endangered species outside these officially protected areas, and the designation system mainly focuses on individual environments & species, not the broader goal of ecology conservation. Therefore, the South Korean government should work on connecting the individual national parks and designated areas to make sure that the system is more cohesive and preserves the habitats for all species, not just certain ones. 

Cho, Soyeon. Dum-bung Observations for the DMZ Ecology Research Institute. Songdo, 21 Oct 2018.

“Jeju Island Biosphere Reserve.” World National Heritage Jeju, World National Heritage Jeju, jejuwnh.jeju.go.kr/english/unescoJeju/biosphereReserve.do.

Mok, Jeong-min. “UNESCO Denies Designation of DMZ as Biosphere Reserve.” The Kyunghyang Shinmun, The Kyunghyang Shinmun, 13 July 2012, english.khan.co.kr/khan_art_view.html?artid=201207131046497&code=710100.

Shin, Won Woo et al. “Korea’s Protected Areas.” IUCN, IUCN, 2010, portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/IUCN-2009-035.pdf.