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Cheorwan county In 2012 the USA and Republic of Korea militaries conducted live fire training exercises in Cheorwon to test the area’s readiness for an attack from the north and to ensure that both armies are capable of coordinating in the case of a joint fire effort. US Military officials saw these exercises reinforcing the relationship between ROK and US troops. While gunfire and small explosions are not uncommon throughout the streets of Cheorwon, 2012 was particularly noisy for its 20,000 residents. These special drills involving advanced rocket launch systems were spurred by worries from South Korean intelligence officials that North Korea could be preparing a third nuclear test following its failed satellite launch in April. 8 The rocket tests have further defined Cheorwon’s identity as a county in a tumultuous war zone. Many tourists from both within South Korea and abroad visit it to learn about the tragedies of the Korean War. While they tour the lookouts and the infiltration tunnels, most fail to observe the exceptional land conditions present throughout the town. Urban tower blocks built in the 1970s provide efficient and affordable housing; these are surrounded by rice fields with aqueducts and small pathways that extend all the way to the DMZ limits, testing the bravado of local farmers. Amidst the land mine warning signs and damp marshland of the DMZ borders, many endangered birds also make their habitat.

8 Zheng, Limin. ‘US, South Korea Hold Joing Live Fire Exercises in Cheorwon’ CCTV News, June 12, 2012 9 Kim, Eleana. Returning Cranes to North Korea: Eleana Kim on the Grus Japonensis. SINO-NK, Adam Cathcart, 2012 10 Elgin, R. Peace and Life Zone: Choice Revisionism. Marmot’s Hole . Seoul: Koehler, Robert, 2008 11 Nakano, Akira.’A Small Town Caught in the Crossfire of the Korean War’ The International Herald Tribune , March 3, 2008 of cross border tensions, for it to be limited in use by environmental protectionism. Additionally, Gangwon Province officials have announced their interest in a second inter-Korea industrial complex, similar to Kaesong, north of Cheorwon county. .10 Locals share the government’s aspirations for their town and many people interviewed on the area’s violent past hold onto sentiments of once again being at the centre of a fully accessible peninsula – perhaps even the capital of a unified Korea. 11 These intense land uses surrounding new development can be taken as indicators of Cheorwon’s potential for industrial agriculture, urban development, environmentalism and resettlement. Paradoxically it is this promise that has held up the southern DMZ designation as a UNESCO Man and Biosphere reserve. 9 Cheorwon is seen as too valuable a location, because of its potential north-south cooperation and rehabilitation

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Mike Taylor

Tracing the value-add to the commodity pricing of rice through manual farming and hand threshing.

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