Korea Forest Service and German Government Discuss Establishment Plan for DMZ International Peace Zone

Jongho Park, Administrator of the Korea Forest Service (third from the left in the front row), is taking a commemorative photo with Korean and German forestry officials at the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation in Bonn, Germany. Photo by Korea Forest Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] “Just as the East-West Germany border was transformed into a Green Belt, we hope the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) can be reborn as a symbolic space of ‘peace’ with the support of the German government.”

According to the Korea Forest Service on the 29th, on the previous day (local time), Park Jong-ho, head of the Korea Forest Service, met with Beate Jessel, president of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt f?r Naturschutz) in Bonn, Germany, to discuss management and utilization plans for Korea’s border area (DMZ).

At the meeting, Director Park requested that the German government take an interest in and support Korea’s Peace Forest Initiative.

He also proposed that German Chancellor Merkel attend the P4G (Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030) Summit to be held in Seoul from June 29 to 30 and introduce the case of the Gr?nes Band (Green Belt), as well as that the Korean and German governments establish a mutual cooperative relationship to address climate change and sustainable growth.

Germany’s Gr?nes Band refers to the approximately 1,400 km former East-West Germany border area (conceptually similar to the DMZ), which has now been restored as an ecological park and established itself as a symbol of peace embracing the wounds of the East-West Germany Cold War era.

In this regard, Director Park introduced the DMZ International Peace Zone proposal, presented by President Moon Jae-in at last year’s UN General Assembly speech, to the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and suggested exploring ways for both countries to benchmark the Korean DMZ based on the Gr?nes Band’s transformation into an ecological park.

At the meeting, Director Park said, “Germany transformed the border area between East and West Germany, once a symbol of the Cold War and called the Iron Curtain, into a forest,” adding, “This provides great inspiration and emotion to our people, who have had to endure 70 years of division due to the Korean War.”

He also quoted the saying, “Only a nation with dreams and a future protects and nurtures forests,” and appealed, “Korea will also benchmark Germany’s case (Gr?nes Band) and strive to make the DMZ area (forests) that divides South and North Korea a new turning point in the history of the Korean Peninsula’s division.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.