4 New Faces of the Demilitarized Zone

1. The home of plants endemic to Korea

The DMZ area is a place inhabited by endemic plants that grow only on the Korean Peninsula. It is home to Sophora koreensis Nakai (Natural Monument No. 27), which blooms yellow flowers at the peak of spring and bears bead-shaped fruits, and Megaleranthis saniculifolia, which blooms star-like flowers. 

2. Safe haven where rare plants grow exuberantly

The DMZ area is where rare plants that are hard to find anywhere else in South Korea can be found, such as Scopolia parviflora (Dunn) Nakai, with its bell-shaped purple flowers; Penthorum chinense Pursh, guarding the wide wetland of the DMZ; Thalictrum simlex var. brevipes H.Hara, with its pale yellow flowers in midsummer; and Wikstroemia trichotoma (Thunb.) Makino, the plant which is the raw material for Korean paper.

3. A place where plants from both North and South Koreas grow without borders 

In the DMZ area, there is a plant called Salvia chanryoenica Nakai, which grows freely to the north beyond the barbed-wire fences of the DMZ. S. chanryoenica is a plant that nestles deep in the mountains at altitudes of 1,000 m or higher, such as on Mount Daeamsan, Mount Dosolsan, and Mount Myeongseongsan in Yanggu, Gangwon-do. Its native habitat extends to the north over the mountains behind the village. S. chanryoenica makes us imagine a day when North and South Koreans can also freely come and go along the flower path.