DMZ INSCRIPTION PROJECT

[Anchor Lead]

South Korea's central government has teamed up with local government bodies, to inscribe the DMZ as a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with North Korea.

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​The Demilitarized Zone transects the middle of the Korean Peninsula in a 4-kilometer band. The area is ecologically invaluable as it is home to 101 endangered species. The area is also meaningful as a wartime legacy that still bears the scars of the Korean War. Now South Korea's central government and two provincial governments have teamed up to inscribe the DMZ as a UNESCO World Heritage Site jointly with North Korea. First, the Cultural Heritage Administration, which is to oversee working-level negotiations with North Korea, is tasked with discovering an outstanding universal value of the DMZ.

[Soundbite] CHUNG JAE-SUK(ADMINISTRATOR, CHA) : "When the DMZ becomes a joint world heritage of the two Koreas, it could become a stepping stone to the era of peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula."

The provincial governments of Gyeonggi-do and Gangwon-do, which have jurisdiction over the DMZ, will conduct status inspections and academic studies.

[Soundbite] LEE JAE-MYUNG(GYEONGGI-DO GOVERNOR) : "It's time to turn the site of confrontation and war into a place for peace, environmental preservation, human rights, and people."

[Soundbite] CHOI MOON-SOON(GANGWON-DO GOVERNOR) : "The 'Gung ye' palace site is located within the DMZ. South Korea has agreed with North Korea to develop it jointly."

The two Koreas have dismantled guard posts inside the DMZ and built a road to facilitate the inter-Korean project of recovering the remains of soldiers that died during the Korean War. Now, guards stand unarmed at Panmunjeom's Joint Security Area where the leaders of North Korea and the U.S. held a meeting last month. The Cultural Heritage Administration and the two provincial governments plan to carry out primary studies on the DMZ later this year and help legislate a special act for the inter-Korean inscription of the DMZ as a World Heritage Site in October.