📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
The Korea DMZ Peace & Life Valley, the host of the KNCU-03 workcamp, was established as an education and learning centre to explore better ways to implement peace education and to preserve the DMZ area in cooperation with civil society and the Korean government.
💼 What the programme involves
The DMZ workcamp will be largely divided into two parts. First, the volunteers will be carrying out agricultural work on an organic farm within the DMZ Peace & Life Valley for 6 hours a day from early morning, in principle. These activities will assist the work of the local host organization, which explores way to develop the quality of local people’s lives through the introduction of organic farming and advanced agricultural techniques. The organization also works to protect the indigenous seeds of local harvests from alien plants, which are widespread this area due to imported crops.
Secondly, volunteers will organize a junior camp for local children. They will have the opportunity during this time to give a presentation on their own country and discuss peace issues with the children.
Culture Programme: Volunteers will visit the nearby DMZ area. They will also visit the nearby wetland in the mountain which was inscribed on the Ramsar Convention on Wetland. Volunteers will also have time to visit the Buddhist temples and cultural heritage in this area.
🏠 Accommodation on site
Volunteers will be staying at a guest house provided by the DMZ Peace & Life Valley foundation. Sleeping bags are not needed. The foundation will provide sheets, comforts and pillows. The facilities have space for lectures, discussions and many more activities of the workcamp. The food will be prepared by the workcamp volunteers and food can also be served at the cafeteria of the foundation if necessary.
📍 About the location
It has been more than 50 years since the Korean Peninsula was torn apart by the Korean War, ending in a ceasefire in 1953. The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) was constructed as a buffer zone between South and North Korea, about halfway up the Korean Peninsula. It is a land strip with an average width of 4km of 2 km heading northbound and 2 km heading southbound from the military demarcation line (the division line) and runs 248 km from the west to east of the Korean Peninsula.
By physically splitting the Korean Peninsula into two, the DMZ is a powerful symbol of the division of Korea and its painful modern history. Even now, it is a reminder of attendant risk to the peace of East Asia and the world.
Nevertheless, the whole area of the DMZ also provides the setting for an incredible ecological revival, bustling with nature and life. The complete isolation of the area from human beings, which came about as a result of war, conflict and killings, has transformed the place into a peaceful habitat for wildlife, without any threat from humans for more than 60 years.
Now the DMZ plays the role of precious place where nature thrives, speaking to the importance of peace and life. As a result, many Korean civil organizations, as well as the Korean government make efforts to preserve this place and its history.
⚠️ Requirements
Volunteers are expected to work on an organic farm in the outside field for 6 hours in a day under the sun. KNCU welcomes motivated and physically strong volunteers who are interested in Korean history and the DMZ.
ℹ️ Additional information
This workcamp takes place is a military controlled place. It is now allowed for volunteers to take pictures of military facilities or soldiers inside.