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Cheorwon County mayor Lee Hyeon-jong and Green Korea Organization standing committee chair and former Prime Minister Goh Kun signed a working agreement on the plant nursery project at the Cheorwon County Office on the morning of Apr. 20. (provided by Cheorwon County)

A “unification plant nursery” producing saplings for use in restoring damaged North Korean forests is opening next year in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province.

Cheorwon County mayor Lee Hyeon-jong and Green Korea Organization standing committee chair and former Prime Minister Goh Kun signed a working agreement on the plant nursery project at the Cheorwon County Office on Apr. 20. At the ceremony, the county and organization agreed to actively cooperate in four areas ahead of reunification of South and North Korea: building and operating the plant nursery; collaborating on necessary administration and technology for seed management; offering technical guidance on reforestation (including sapling cultivation and management), technical support, and anti-erosion efforts to restore damaged forests; and supplies of superior saplings and support for distribution of farm income sources to boost resident participation.

Cheorwon ranks as one of the regions in South Korea with the most similar climate conditions to North Korea’s. Its location on the North Korean border and its geographic advantages make it an optimal environment for producing saplings to plant in North Korea once reunification occurs. The county plans to work with its local forest cooperative to select a site for the plant nursery, with facilities to be built at a project cost of 1.2 billion won (US$1.1 million) and actual seeding production to begin next year.

“Once the unification plant nursery is built in Cheorwon and sapling cultivation techniques have been shared with farms, there will be a new crop serving as a source of agricultural income to replace rice farming,” said Lee.

Goh noted a success in the past with a “forest greening effort involving 3 billion trees.”

“North Korea needs around twice as many saplings from us, with a future target of planting 6.5 billion trees,” he added. “Hopefully, the unification plant nursery will be a success and provide a successful model for forest greening on the Korean Peninsula that will help pave the way for inter-Korean dialogue.”

The Green Asia Organization is a non-government, civilian-led international cooperation organization founded in 2014 as a partnership by international organizations like the UN, companies, and civil society to respond to climate change and achieve a sustainable and green Korean Peninsula. Last year, an event involving the planting of trees for a “forest of hope for peace and reunification” was held at Cheorwon’s DMZ Peace and Cultural Plaza.

By Park Soo-hyuk, Gangwon correspondent

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