Opening of DMZ Museum

Museum to display Korean War relics, historic artifacts and ecological items as part of tourism belt around DMZ

Gov. Kim Jin-sun of Gangwon Province officially opened the province’s DMZ Museum on Aug. 14 in a ceremony held in Goseong, Gangwon Province near the de-militarized zone (DMZ) on the east coast, the provincial government announced recently.
At the ceremony were Minister Yu In-chon of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Gov. Kim, leaders of the military units stationed in the area, provincial officials and residents of Goseong, totaling some 1,300.
It took the Gangwon provincial government nearly eight years of hard work to collect the materials on the history of the military truce line and build the museum inside the civilian zone of the DMZ in Goseong County under the policy to realize peace between the divided Koreas so that the both sides will share a joint desire for unification, restoration and preservation of the ecology and environmental resources inside the DMZ.
The museum has provided an occasion to turn the zone into a world-famous destination as Gangwon Province is working on a plan to link the museum with nearby well-known spots including the Inje Peace Hill and the Cheorwon Culture and Peace Plaza with the aim to make the project one of the three largest South-North exchange projects on the Korean Peninsula.
Built on a space of 145,396 square meters, the three-storey museum includes exhibition rooms, a screening room, a multi-purpose center and more, with 37 historic items on the ancient history of the area, 4,135 items on the Korean War, 384 ecological items, and 1,041 items on cultural life, totaling 6,277 items altogether and built at a cost of 44.5 billion won including 22 billion won from the central government and 22.5 billion won provided by the provincial government.
The museum is made up of four zones; the first one with the themes of “Birth without Blessing,” designed to show the tragedy of war as depicted by the DMZ, “The pre-warned June 25 War” and “Into the hours of the day when the war began.” The second zone has the themes of “The inheritance from the Cold War continues,” “DMZ, the land of pain and tragedy,” “The War hidden behind the Cold War,” and “In Trace of the War.” The third zone has the themes of “But the DMZ is alive,” “Co-existence and hope,” “The DMZ, the land of history,” and “The DMZ, the land of life and living.” The fourth zone has the theme of “The DMZ, the land with dreams again,” “To follow the reopened railroad,” and “The DMZ, the land where peace trees grow and the road to unification.”
The new museum held a number of special exhibitions to enhance the importance of a museum dedicated to the DMZ. The special events featured such themes as the way to the museum and the leaflet battle during the Korean War, an exhibition on Germany’s unification, an exhibition of award-winning photos on the ecological conditions inside the DMZ, among others, to provide the viewers with something they wanted to see at the museum.
Gangwon Province whose boundary line includes 145 km (58.5 percent) of the 248 km of the DMZ will try to make the museum the exchange point for culture and arts between the South and the North and also peace and tourism to be ready for the unification of the land.
The province will try to turn it into a popular tourist destination to attract domestic as well as foreign tourists. The province will work to create a tourism market for peace and ecology with the DMZ as a main theme.
The province completed its plan for the development of the museum for the future in June and is working on a reorganization of the contents under the theme of “All About the DMZ.” It will also introduce additional facilities to make the museum a space for sensitivity and a brand to attract tourists under a marketing program being drawn up linking the museum and the Peace Village under a long-term development plan to be carried out by the province and implemented by 2020 in order to take advantage of the unique tourism value of the DMZ, the only such facility in the world, showing that the Cold War is still alive in this part of the world. nw

A full view of the DMZ Museum

Gov. Kim Jin-sun of Gangwon Province makes his congratulatory speech at the opening of the DMZ Museum in Goseung County in Gangwon Province

Minister Yu In-chon of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism delivers a congratulatory speech at the opening of the DMZ Museum in Goseong County Aug. 14 inside the civilian sector of the eastern coast of the DMZ

(above photo) A group of dignitaries led by Minister Yu, Gov. Kim and local officials cut the tape to open the DMZ Museum during an opening ceremony on Aug. 14. An inside of the DMZ Museum. A scene of the opening ceremony of the DMZ Museum with Minister Yu In-chon of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Gov. Kim Jin-sun of Gangwon Province, attending.