Make the DMZ an International Peace Park? More Hope for the New Year
(Tony Karp's photo: DMZ 1964 from the Techno-Impressionist Journal)
Hear All About the Greening of the Korean DMZ with Doug Noll and Hal Healy at 11:00 a.m. (PST) on New Year's Eve Day .
I've been working a little over the holidays. You know, the work I got my ticket punched for in 1980; and, for all the complaining you hear from lawyers, the work that is by far the easiest (read: most certain) way to make a living of them all: practicing law.
Don't worry, legal practice will never again be my day job. Still, I'd been seriously thinking . . . . what have I been thinking for the past three years???? I LOVE this legal research treasure hunt and the war-game strategizing that goes along with it. And it pays by the hour, not just the time I spend "on stage."
To answer that question this morning, a power greater than me -- things as they are *-- delivered this into my mailbox.
The Korean De-Militarized Zone splits North and South Korea by a band of land that has been untouched by humankind for 53 years. During that time, nature has restored the DMZ to a pristine state of wilderness and has seen the resurgence of many endangered plant and animal species. What would happen if the DMZ were transformed from a symbol of war and strife to one of peace, sustainability, and ecological preservation? More importantly, what if preservation of the DMZ as a national park becomes part of the common ground that can resolve the many differences between the two Koreas? Hall Healy, vice-president of the DMZ Forum, has dedicated himself to making the Korean DMZ a symbol of hope, peace, and environmental beauty. Join us in a conversation about an amazing unsung project that could finally bring peace to the Korean Peninsula.
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* My dad, never one of my major spiritual guides, taught me this when I was in middle school: "Things as they are giveth and things as they are taketh away, blessed be things as they are." Thanks Dad!
