DMZ의 평화적 이용에 대한 국제환경법적 고찰

A Study on the Peaceful Use of the Korean Demilitarized Zone(DMZ) from the Perspective of International Environmental Law

Sixty years have passed since the outbreak of the Korean War. The scars of the War, nevertheless, still remain in the Korean Demilitarized Zone(DMZ) which has been regarded as the symbol of conflict between two Koreas. Ironically, however, it has not been developed and utilised by human beings for sixty years because of the heavy military confrontation around it, and therefore DMZ has instead been preserved well as a possible new symbol of not only life and ecology, but of peace and harmony as well, and furthermore even a symbol of unification. In this context, this paper initially examines what are the legal grounds for the peaceful use of DMZ, focusing on the 1953 Armistice Agreement concluded after the Korean War, and the 1991 North-South Korean Basic Agreement that stipulates expressly about the peaceful use of DMZ. After this, the main arguments of this paper, namely some ecological and environmental approaches to the DMZ issue are tried, based on the contents of various international environmental treaties, to most of which both Koreas are currently States Parties. Among them, multinational treaties and related customary international law, containing environmental issues such as the peaceful uses of international watercourses or rivers, the conservation of biological diversity, the conservation of wet lands, the protection of the World Natural Heritage, and forestation and its possible linkage with the Clean Development Mechanism(CDM), are comprehensively investigated. Based on these examinations, it can broadly be concluded that, if both Koreas really want to grasp this eco logical and peaceful opportunity, international law, more specifically international environmental law, is already prepared to provide some necessary legal assistance to them. Our government and scholars should make proper efforts in developing this possibility into a reality, in more detail and continuously.