This article was written to promote exchanges and cooperation between the two Koreas based on their understanding of the cultural heritage of the two Koreas. The DMZ is the last existing Cold War heritage and a living war heritage. At the same time, a...
This article was written to promote exchanges and cooperation between the two Koreas based on their understanding of the cultural heritage of the two Koreas. The DMZ is the last existing Cold War heritage and a living war heritage. At the same time, as a result of the 70-year-old Cold War, it has outstanding universal value in that it is a monumental legacy of the Korean Peninsula’s ecosystem and biodiversity conservation. Despite the value of the DMZ that the Korean Peninsula has, there are many differences in the perception between the two Koreas. While South Korea wants to use the DMZ as a springboard for peace on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea sees the DMZ as something that needs to be removed for unification. This fact is an important task to overcome before promoting the registration of the DMZ as a World Heritage Site. We may have focused only on the establishment of a peace zone for the registration of world heritage rather than on dreaming of the past, present and future values of the DMZ. It seems that serious and open discussions on “What is the DMZ for us?” and “How should we look at the DMZ?” and “How should we interpret the DMZ?” are needed before pushing for the DMZ’s World Heritage site with a long breath away from the short-term temptation.