Title of presentation: “Beyond the Catastrophic Origins of the Korean DMZ.”

Name of presenter: Seo-Young Chu

Conference: Catastrophe and Community: The Eighth Annual Queens College English Graduate Conference, Queens College, CUNY

Summary: The Korean DMZ, once a gash across the peninsula, has over the decades transformed into a lush ecological sanctuary. Endangered species now find refuge in its mountains, its estuaries, its meadows, its wetlands. As a no-man’s-land, the DMZ remains untouched by human beings — but for how long? Now is the time to devise strategies for protecting the DMZ from real estate developers and other possible sources of environmental and geomantic trauma. One strategy that might work: Grant personhood to the Korean DMZ.

Relevant links:

https://medium.com/@seoyoungjchu/the-human-rights-of-a-no-mans-land-3774b7299b2b

Conference Schedule

https://www.rightsofrivers.org/#declaration

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20200319-the-new-zealand-river-that-became-a-legal-person

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/30/saving-the-whanganui-can-personhood-rescue-a-river

#Korea #KoreanWar #DMZ #DemilitarizedZone #KoreanDMZ #Personhood #Ecocriticism #ClimateLyricism #Whanganui #WhanganuiRiver #Wildlife #Endangered #Rights #EnvironmentalPersonhood #Ecological #Sanctuary