• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.119-138
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• 2000

Korean vivax malaria had been prevalent for longtime throughout the country with low endemicity. As a result of the Korean war (1950-1953), malaria became epidemic. In 1959-1969 when the National Malaria Eradication Service (NMES) was implemented, malaria rates declined, with low endemicity in the south-west and south plain areas and high endemic foci in north Kyongsangbuk-do (province) and north and east Kyonggi-do. NMES activities greatly contributed in accelerating the control and later eradication of malaria. The Republic of Korea (South Korea) was designated malaria free in 1979. However, malaria re-emerged in 1993 and an outbreak occurred in north Kyonggi-do and north-west Kangwon-do (in and/or near the Demilitarized Zone, DMZ) , bordering North Korea. It has been postulated that most of the malaria cases resulted from bites of sporozoite-infected females of An. sinensis dispersed from North Korea across the DMZ. Judging from epidemiological and socio-ecological factors, vivax malaria would not be possible to be endemic in South Korea. Historical data show that vivax malaria in Korea is a typical unstable malaria. Epidemics may occur when environmental, socio-economical, and/or political factors change in favor to malaria transmission, and when such factors change to normal conditions malaria rates become low and may disappear. Passive case detection is a most feasible and recommendable control measure against the unstable vivax malaria in Korea in cost-effect point of view.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.121-135
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• 2014

Object-based classification methods provide a valid alternative to traditional pixel-based methods. This study reports the results of an object-based classification to examine land cover in the demilitarized zones(DMZs) of Inje-gun. We used land cover classes(7 classes for main category and 13 classes for sub-category) selected from the criteria by Korea Ministry of Environment. The average and standard deviation of the spectrum values, and homogeneity of GLCM were chosen to map land cover types in an hierarchical approach using the nearest neighborhood method. We then identified the distributional characteristics of land cover by considering 3 topographic characteristics (altitude, slope gradient, distance from the Southern Limited Line(SLL)) within the DMZs. The results showed that scale 72, shape 0.2, color 0.8, compactness 0.5 and smoothness 0.5 were the optimum weight values while scale, shape and color were most influenced parameters in image segmentation. The forests (92%) were main land cover type in the DMZs; the grassland(5%), the urban area (2%) and the forests (broadleaf forest: 44%, mixed forest: 42%, coniferous forest: 6%) also occupied mostly in land cover classes for sub-category. The results also showed that facilities and roads had higher density within 2 km from the SLL, while paddy, field and bare land were distributed largely outside 6 km from the SLL. In addition, there was apparent distinction in land cover by topographic characteristics. The forest had higher density at above altitude 600m and above slope gradient $30^{\circ}$ while agriculture, bare land and grass land were distributed mainly at below altitude 600m and below slope gradient $30^{\circ}$.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.554-574
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• 2018

Mt. Bonghwa reaches a height of 800 m (2,870 ft) and stands on the flank of Mt. Daeam-san, which has an elevation of 1,304 m (4,278 ft). It is important to survey the flora of Bonghwa-san in that it is a way to make out what kind of plant species exist in DMZ due to the geographical characteristics of Bonghwa-san adjacent to Korean DMZ. Therefore this study was conducted to elucidate the distribution of vascular plants and their value of Bonghwa-san. The vascular plants that were collected 10 times from May 2015 to April 2017 consisted of a total of 525 taxa; 93 families, 309genera, 458 species, 4 subspecies, 58 varieties and 5 forms. The observed rare plant species as designated by Korea Forest Service were 12 taxa including Echinosophora koreensis, Epimedium koreanum, Anemone koraiensis etc. Endemic species were 16 taxa containing Cirsium setidens, Heloniopsis koreana, Salvia chanryoenica etc. 31 taxa were recorded as naturalized plants and their naturalized rate and urban index were noted as 5.8% and 7.25%. Among the surveyed 525 taxa, edible, medicinal, pasturing, ornamental, timber, dye, fiber and industrial plants included 213 taxa, 172 taxa, 196 taxa, 50 taxa, 23 taxa, 10 taxa, 6 taxa and 3 taxa, respectively.

• ALGAE
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.115-122
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• 2004

The epilithic algal communities on the artificial substrata (unglazed ceramic tiles) were investigated from 5th July to 24th July 1999 with two or three days intervals for elucidating the effects of the experimental acidification. They were harvested inside the mesocosm with and without the acid treatment on Togyo reservoir within the Civilian Passage Restriction Line near Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Korea. After the colonization of epilithic algal community, their standing crops revealed different patterns outside and inside the mesocosm. However the time lapse of 5 days was observed on the inside with acid treatment. The dominant species were different: Achnanthes minutissima was outside but Coenochloris polycocca was inside and inside with acid treatment. The differences in floral composition were also found. Achnanthes minutissima which has been the most important species in the colonization by the epilithic algal community of the mesocosm was less important at the lower pH. Coenochloris polycocca is a species well adapted to low pH.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.349-354
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• 2001

While the United Nations UN) agencies work to restrict the manufacture, sale, and use of land-mines worldwide, a massive clean-up effort is needed to find and destroy the estimated 100 million land-mines still buried around the world. Land-mines left behind from wars worldwide are one of the past century＇s main unsolved problems of war and remain the focus of humanitarian land-mine detection and removal primarily in Europe, Africa, Asia and Central and South America. For example, approximately 1 million anti-personnel mines and other various kinds which have been buried in the 249.4 km (155 miles) demilitarized zone (DMZ) of the Korean peninsular should be completely removed in historical process of the peaceful unification between South and North Korea. In this regard, the current trends of technologies linked to land-mine detection systems are surveyed.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.467-473
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• 1997

South Korea has been free from endemic malaria by P. vivax since the mid-1980s, but malaria infections, including military outbreak in 1995, have been increasing steadily in the soldiers serving near the western part of Demilitarized Zone(DMZ) since its first resurgence in 1993. We experinced 8 cases of delayed onset P. vivax malaria in young men who had never been abroad and had no history of blood transfusion or parenteral use of drug. All the patients had served near the western part of DMZ during their military life. They were admitted to Yeungnam University hospital due to cyclic fever with chills and the clinical symptoms were developed 2 months to 11months after discharge from military service. Peripheral blood smears showed typical ring forms and trophozoites of P. vivax in red blood cell. Patients were treated with hydroxychloroquine and primaquine showing rapid clinical and hematologic responses in all cases, but 2 cases were relapsed later. We presumed that theses cases were delayed onset of P. vivax infection resulted from the recent outbreak in the western part of DMZ, in 1995. Therefore, we reported theses cases to emphasize the need of active surveillance and prevention.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.281-284
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• 1994

On .lune and .truly 1994, two cases of vivax wl,Blaria were consecutively diagnosed at the Yongsan Hospital, Chung-Ang University in Seoul. The first patient was a soldier sewing in western parts of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) while the second case was a resident of a village near DMZ. Neither patients had history of being abroad. Republic of Korea (ROK) has been free of malaria since the mid-1970s except for imported cases. The two ivfn malaria cases, together with an additional patient detected in 1993, occurred in relatively small areas near DMZ. This necessitated an epidemiologic surveillance. When medical records and blood smears in the areas were examined, no other cases were found. Of 7,723 mosquitoes collected by a black light trap for ho nights in June, 7,066 (91.5%) were Anopheles sinensis. In order to evaluate a significance of the recent malaria occurrence, a surveillance system should be operated in the areas.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.135-153
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• 2021

The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier with 248 kilometers in length and about 4 kilometers in width crossing east to west to divide the Korean Peninsula about in half. The boundary at 2 kilometers to the south is called the southern limit line. The DMZ has formed a unique ecosystem through a natural ecological succession after the Armistice Agreement and has high conservation value. However, the use of facilities for the military operation and the unchecked weeding often damage the areas in the vicinities of the southern limit line's iron-railing. This study aimed to prepare basic data for the restoration of damaged barren vegetation. As a result of classifying vegetation communities based on indicator species, 10 communities were identified as follows: Duchesnea indica Community, Hosta longipes Community, Sedum kamtschaticum-Sedum sarmentosum Community, Potentilla anemonefolia Community, Potentilla fragarioides var. major Community, Prunella vulgaris var. lilacina Community, Dendranthema zawadskii var. latilobum-Carex lanceolata Community, Dendranthema zawadskii Community, Plantago asiatica-Trifolium repens Community, and Ixeris stolonifera-Kummerowia striata Community. Highly adaptable species can characterize vegetation in barren areas to environment disturbances because artificial disturbances such as soil erosion, soil compaction, topography change, and forest fires caused by military activities frequently occur in the barren areas within the southern limit line. Most of the dominant species in the communities are composed of plants that are commonly found in the roads, roadsides, bare soil, damaged areas, and grasslands throughout South Korea. Currently, the vegetation in barren areas in the vicinities of the DMZ is in the early ecological succession form that develops from bare soil to herbaceous vegetation. Since dominant species distributed in barren land can grow naturally without special maintenance and management, the data can be useful for future restoration material development or species selection.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.46-60
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• 2023

This study examines the appropriateness of indicators and methodologies through the evaluation of cultural services in border areas and uses them as basic data for the ecosystem service-based management of border areas, which are key domestic ecological assets. Accordingly, in this study, seven border cities and counties were evaluated and compared based on the evaluation indicators and methods presented by the National Institute of Ecology. As a result of the cultural service evaluation, it was found that Paju City was superior in leisure and tourism, Inje-gun was best in scenic beauty and heritage, and Yanggu-gun was strongest in education, and Inje-gun in heritage. Accordingly, through this study, future tasks for comprehensive cultural service evaluation were presented as follows. First, in order to evaluate ecosystem services at the national and regional levels, it is necessary to establish an indicator system for cultural service evaluation and monitoring. Second, when building a cultural service evaluation index system, it is necessary to review upper and lower conceptual units and the consistency between indicators according to the scale of the evaluation region. Third, a specific review of DB utilization for cultural service evaluation should be conducted depending on the type of ecosystem. Lastly, given the significant lack of domestic cultural service research, additional basic research must be conducted to evaluate cultural services including non-material and qualitative perceptions. In order to evaluate cultural services in the future, additional basic research is needed for each ecosystem type, and a process of finding appropriate evaluation indicators and methods through research is necessary.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.38-50
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• 2015

Appearance patterns of freshwater fish were investigated in the western Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) adjacent areas near Imjin River in Gyeonggi-do, Korea, of 2014. A total of 61 species belonging to 14 families were found in the river during the survey. The dominant and subdominant species were Zacco platypus (Relative abundance, 20.3%) and Zacco koreanus (12.6%), respectively. Other abundant species include Rhinogobius brunneus (9.2%), Pungtungia herzi (4.4%), Acheilognathus yamatsutae (4.4%), and Pseudogobio esocinus (4.0%). Among the residing species, 24 species (39.3%) were endemic to Korea; and 1 species, Carassius cuvieri, was non-indigenous species. Hemibarbus mylodon is a natural monument, and Lethenteron reissneri, Acheilognathus signifer, Pseudopungtungia tenuicorpa, Gobiobotia brevibarba, G. macrocephala, and G. naktongensis are endangered species in Korea. In addition, Anguilla japonica and Plecoglossus altivelis are catadromous and amphidromous species, respectively. Among the investigated sites, the lower part of Sami Stream (St. 5, 6) and Gunnarm-dam region (St. 11, 14) are particularly valuable for the conservation of species diversity, because many fish species (33~42 species) including a natural monument and several endangered species inhabit in these regions.