South Korea plans to designate the Demilitarized Zone as an international conservation area in the first half of next year.
The environment ministry said Thursday that it will host five rounds of policy forums until May, 2019 and lay out detailed plans to preserve the biodiversity in the region.
Although the DMZ accounts for only one-point-six percent of South Korea's total area, it is home to over 20 percent of the nation's bio-species.