hankyoreh

South Korea will remove barbed wire built for military security purposes along the lower part of the Han River linking Gimpo and Goyang of Gyeonggi Province, as well as in the nation’s coastal areas, the Office for Government Policy Coordination said.

A total of 97.2 kilometers of barbed wire fences will be removed from beaches, tourist destinations, and concentrated residential areas in several phases by the end of this year, the office said. This represents 15 percent of such extended 643.4 kilometer-long fences nationwide, save for those along the military demarcation line dividing the two Koreas. Under the plan, 54 barbed wire fences built in Gangwon Province and 23 in southern and western coastal areas will be removed, and the process will be completed in Gangwon Province before the summer holiday season kicks off, the government office added.

South Korea did not build such barbed wire fences only along the border separating the two Koreas, but also along the eastern and western coastlines as well as areas of the Han River south of the demilitarized zone, out of fear of potential invasion by North Korea’s guerilla units. Since the 1950-1953 Korean War, both Koreas have sent such units into the other’s territory to gather intelligence or to attempt assassinations, including several incidents in the 1960s, one in which armed North Korean units attacked the presidential office in Seoul and another in which Northern units killed residents in remote regions of the South before sneaking back to the North. A group of surviving South Korean spy agents say that since the end of the war, about 8,000 South Korean agents have gone North and never returned.

Against this historical backdrop, the measures to bring down some barbed wire fences represent the easing of tensions between the two Koreas, on course since the first-ever inter-Korean summit in 2000, and despite the current stalemate at the six-party talks to end the North’s nuclear program.

The government said it would continue the work between 2008 and 2009 to bring down 40.6 kilometers of barbed wire fences and after 2009, it said it would carry out the efforts to demolish the remaining 500 kilometers of fences.

According to the environmental office’s plan, the wire fences in Gimpo City will be brought down. The outer layer of double fences lining the side of the Freedom Highway leading to the border with North Korea will also be removed, while those built around military posts will be turned into a field study area for students. The second inner barbed wire fence on the side of the Han River will be kept as a protective barrier to prevent wild animals.

The move, however, has sparked concern by some environmentalists.

Some say the removal of such fences would increase access of people to areas where wild animals have long enjoyed protection.

Yun Sun-yeoung, head of a wild animal protection group, said "The Gimpo area, where white-naped cranes find their prey, will be left vulnerable, while the nature of the Goyang region will also be affected by increased visitors."

In response to the government’s plan, the Han River Basin Environmental Office announced it would make moves to preserve the wetlands in the lower area of the river.

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