[DMZ] Wish to Visit the Island – Chopyoung Island Wetland

It is the only island in the Imjin river area.

It has been kept quiet with the old piled discharges based on the history of the Korean peninsula. It is the Chopyoung wetland which surrounds the whole of Chopyoung island. The Chopyoung wetland is a salt-fresh marsh of 3960000㎡, which contains watersides of Jangsan-ri and Dongpa-ri of Moonsan-eup, Paju-si. The main stream of the Imjin river with its width between 100 and 400m runs around the Chopyoung island whose outskirts are full of poplars and pussy willows. The island gives us beautiful scenery with Tongil Grand Bridge in the west and Deokjinsanseong Frotress in the north.

You can see water birds such as white-naped cranes, white-tailed sea eagles, eagles, upland buzzards, the northern harrier, the long-billed ringed plover, etc. You can also see wood-sandpiper, greenshank, etc. in farmland during spring and fall migration season. Especially in early summer, you can see that national treasure, mandarin ducks, eating rorippa islandtica or that broad-billed rollers and black-capped kingfishers are flying among tall trees such as willows and amur maples. In winter, you can often see endangered species class I birds, white-tailed sea eagles, hunting on the ice at the Imjin river.

You can track mammals such as wildcats or raccoon by their footprints that are mixed up with the footprints of birds on the mudflat. You can easily see that Chinese water deer stroll along the water’s edge.

At the end of the waterside, salt flat plants such as rorippa islandtica, potentilla supina L., tender bothriospermum, areanria serpyllifolia (thyme-leaved sandwort), lycopus lucidus turcz., rorippa indica (L.) hiern, scirpus radicans, veronica undulata, bidens frondosa, and so on, can be found. Under the communities of willows, amur maples and link canal, cyperaceae plants such as phragmites japonica and miscanthus sacchariflorus and poaceae plants such as capsella bursa-pastoris (L) medik, draba nemorosa var. hebecarpa lindb., erigeron annuus (L) pers, etc. look beautiful in ridges between rice fields.

However, in contrast with a deserted island whose wetland would allow various living things to inhabit, the ecological environment of Chopyoung wetland has been seriously threatened since the inner part of Chopyoung wetland has been developed and cultivated for farmland or ginseng fields. It has even been used for military reservation facilities and a military firing range for the neighboring US Army base.