The Korean DMZ—at once a war zone, a historical landscape and a living laboratory—offers a compelling example of how scientific fieldwork can alter the definition of place. This article explores how scientists introduced new layers of meaning to the region, thereby contributing to shifts in perspective about the border area and to changes in land-use policies there. As early as the mid 1960s, scientists described the DMZ as a scientifically unique and valuable place and argued for setting it aside as a nature reserve; by the late 1990s, the vision of the DMZ as a scientific landscape gained currency both within Korea and internationally and has become central to discussions about the zone's future. This article draws from published and unpublished scientific reports whose authors directly argue for assigning official conservation status to all or part of the DMZ and its border regions; it aims to demonstrate the important role scientists have played in redefining the DMZ through highlighting its environmental and scientific value. The article places these developments within the larger environmental history of Korea, suggesting links between changing emphases in environmental activism and policy-making and evolving ideas about the value and purpose of the DMZ.

韩国DMZ既是战区，历史景观又是活着的实验室，这是科学实地考察如何改变场所定义的一个令人信服的例子。本文探讨了科学家如何向该地区引入新的含义层，从而促进了对边境地区观念的转变以及该地区土地使用政策的变化。早在1960年代中期，科学家就将DMZ描述为科学上独特而有价值的地方，并主张将其作为自然保护区而搁置。到1990年代后期，DMZ作为科学景观的愿景在韩国和国际上都广为流行，并已成为讨论该区未来的关键。本文摘自已发表和未发表的科学报告，这些报告的作者直接主张为非军事区及其边界地区的全部或部分赋予官方保护地位；它旨在通过强调DMZ的环境和科学价值，展示科学家在重新定义DMZ中所发挥的重要作用。这篇文章将这些事态发展纳入了更广泛的韩国环境历史中，暗示了在环境行动主义和政策制定方面不断变化的重点之间的联系，以及关于非军事区的价值和目的的不断发展的观念。