AllMovie

As of the early 21st Century, Korea retains a unique status, as the only country on Earth that is politically divided into two separate factions - one Communist and one Democratic. In between extends a border with a 2km stretch on each side known as the DMZ, or 'The Demilitarized Zone.' From the 1950s onward, habitation on the DMZ was generally impossible given the volatility of the region and the presence of land mines and other threats - with the sole exception of the land immediately surrounding the village of Panmunjeom, as well as the Dong Bukbu Line on the east coast of Korea. Curiously, the verboten nature of these territories means that they are unsoiled by human intervention and have therefore never been exposed to industrial pollution or hunting. As a result, they serve as the home to several animal and plant species considered endangered in the rest of the world - such as the Red-crowned Crane, the Amur leopard, the Asiatic Black Bear and the Korean Tiger. This documentary program studies some of the 2,900 species of plants, 70 species of mammals and 320 species of birds inhabiting the region.