A Dragon Swamp is a Microfilm, which Taped a History of Nature. Fish Hunting of the North Korean Soldiers A Masterpiece of Joint Effort of the North and South Koreas, Seung-Il Gyo(Seung-Il Bridge)

[This on-the-spot survey is excerpted from publishing contents of a daily report of Gangwon-do residents, which was published serially for the past 3 years as a column name 'DMZ' by an editorial writer 'Kwang-Bork Ham', and a collection of prose 'DMZ is not a boarder' from a publishing house 'literature town' on Aug/1995]

A Dragon Swamp is a Microfilm, which Taped a History of Nature.

In a dialogue of a representative writer of Partition literature 'Jeon-Sang Guk, high moor (dragon swamp) of Daearmsan of Yanggu appears many times. He seems to incorporate beautiful scenery of moor, which spread in an alp to his novel. However, Mr.Jeon has never been to Dragon swamp. Going over a stone mountain several times could not clime Daearmsan. That place is a restricted area for non-official civilian. going along a mountain ridge of Dosolsan, and Daeusan and reach to Gachilbong, because there is enclosed with iron railing.

However, above all, Stalin Highland in North, Kim li-sung Highland and so on, however the mountain is tactically impossible to control, since it is intently come in sight of a chain of a mountain of Geumgangsan which are all much the same in height. Since he has never been there, his imagination is very free. He was very interested in a witnessing story of the dragon swamp, such as a wildflowers field which are spread whole over an alp and a pond of the mountaintop, a field of the mountain cucumber weed and so on. However, the dragon swamp is not only the subject of adoration. Ex-the Marine Corps Commandant 'Kim Dae-Shik' general has gloomy old memories about the dragon swamp. A story of a marine, which catches a ghost, is a myth that a battle of Dosolsan is made. At the top of .Dosolsan, now, there is a monument of record of ' Dosolsan's battle' raised. As reading a phrase 'the mountain of victory that the Marine Corps has acquired', a monumental inscription to the end, an unstinted praised for a myth of the Marine Corps is never worthy. A memory of the dragon swamp of an old soldier is only a scene of happening that was buried behind the battle of .Dosolsan. The captain was on an aerial inspection for war situation. Suddenly, an American pilot pointed the front. A green field came out from through the smoke of artillery. As if nothing had happened, it was just like a peaceful scene. The American pilot was prompted by curiosity; suddenly he landed the helicopter on the 'green' of an alp. However, when he tried to take off, the green pulled lift of the helicopter with dreadful adsorption. It was a swamp. The captain climbed down a mountain to the CP of a regiment by walking. (The old solider gave a loud, cheerful laugh as he was saying it would never be recorded on war history.) The legendary swamp is now spread on the top of Daearmsan. It was degenerated as its shape is hardly recognizable and a large dragon swamp was left lonely. It was heavily covered with the first snow fell in November. As the moor was covered with snow, a boundary line (a limiting line) was not being able to distinguish. Mountain sedge, var. purpurer were not be seen on the field. A prodigy of nature, which was buried in the history of 4,500 years of swamp, is hibernating now. As a ripped billiard curtain, scratches that human made, since it was covered with snow, it did not appear.

When all is said and done, the finest of successive DMZ academy investigation is the discovery of the dragon swamp. In 1966, the name of the dragon swamp was changed as high moor by an academy investigator. The meaning is that sphagnum is growing, since it is Icy and too much soppy, lack of inorganic salts. There are many village seniors who still remember the Yongyeongiuje of Daearmsan. However, a legend of .Daearmsan was all gone by war. The dragon swamp, which was born again by scholars, unexpectedly, fastened a label of saying 'the only high moor in South Korea'. Dr.Yamasaki of Japan, in his thesis, announces that 'Because of weather condition, it is unlikely to have high moor in Korea'. Since it is a the third discovery of high moor of Daearmsan which is followed by Daetack in Hamgyeongbuk-do, Zangji in Backdusan, ohship-li-ji, it makes scholars more exciting. However, the reason that high moor of .Daearmsan becomes a climax of DMZ's academic investigation, it contains enormous contents of nature, which is not inferior to its scarcity. At a bottom part of moor, there is a small pond with a diameter of 3-4m.The pond is always pure and clear with filled of the sky that makes us to call it 'an eye of swamp'. There are some people who insist it to become a rest place of early morning for wild animals. However, it would just be a story with imagination. 'an eye of swamp' is a strong acid water with pH5.8 which cannot be drinking water. Moreover, it is a water which has a very low concentration of salts with concentration of calcium is 0.53, calcium 2.78, magnesium 0.45. Even an aquatic creature could not live there. Discovery of birds are 104 kinds. The water quality of the pond designates complicated nature of high moor. Nothing can survive there unless it is strong bog moss on acid soil. The moor, so to speak, it is an unusual ground of peat deposits, which was made by 'remains' of bog moss that had been, covered it little by little. The peat deposits has a nature that preserve whatever has come to it. Even a pollen that was delivered with wind, it was left untouched. All plants, flowers bloom and stirred up pollen. Therefore, high moor keeps secretes of trees and grass just as it was. Southward advance plants, such as an element of Manchu, an element of Ussuri, an element of china, meet with the plants of southern regions. The plant index of moor is more various and enough than any other places. In order to find a history of .Daearmsan, in 1985, professor Gang Sang-Jun of Chungbuk University, he carved a way for the first. A thickness of the peat deposits is almost 140cm. The formation year was estimated to be 4,500~5,000 years ago. As time passes by, an index of all plants, which had been living in .Daearmsan, is now piled up in every room. In other words, high moor of .Daearmsan id a microfilm that contains the habits of living things. It is a masterpiece of nature.

Daearmsan has designated as a precious natural product no.246. The high moor once again designated as a preserved area of a natural monument. However, it was abandoned ignorance of an environment policy came into view, which leaves no room for Daearmsan. No one can enter there without permission, however the high moor got seriously ill because of interferences of human. Ignorance of solider who knows nothing about a value of the moor and knowledgeable scholars who knows so much about a value of the moor, they both infringe upon this moor. A disappearance of a small dragon swamp would be solely a landslide. There was no way to defend earth and sand, which were running down from an operating road. At about July/1985, the edge of moor was shown with a diameter of 100m at a small dragon swamp. But, after 2 years, there was no track of the small dragon swamp when an academic investigation team of DMZ visited. Such as an old place for a rice field, an oak tree, an ash tree is within, a goldenrod tree vine creeps. Moreover, even those many ethnologists, have no feeling about destroyed spot. Winter in Daearmsan is very cold and long. Snow falls since mid-October, and stops about the early of May. The moor is a useless land during winter season. On the contrary, the solider are on strict alert for possibility of a sudden attack of AN-2 aircraft of North Korean and a glider. Is this an extraordinary idea of a commanding officer? The moor on the summit of a mountain with a long winter, a field that spreads over like lawn ground, build a bank along bottom part of the moor, and fill it with water, it would be a natural ice rink. It would be a first alp ice rink with 400m rinks. Daearmsan's ice rink, because of 6 months of the freezing season, training is possible for state armature and solider of North Korea at Kim il-sung hill would become an object of envy for an effective national territory utilization. Scratches on the bottom part of the moor appeared in such a way. An elastic bottom of moor like sponge, drainage was impossible with the riverbank. When a riverbank built with a length of 30m, thickness of 1m, height of 1.5m, for the first time, noticed that containing water would be impossible. It was not found on investigation in 1974. In 1985, when a troop of professor Kang Sang-jun climed .Daearmsan, one of a solider who is about to be discharged from military service, said "when I was a recruit, I heard that senior comrade built that bank." The bank is standing right there which had became remains from destruction of nature of the 1980s. there are plantain on the edge of the bank, it was heaped with Chamssuk while making a plant. Even aquatic creatures would not want to live in the moor. Disturbing order of the conservative society, the balance is breaking by an entering of new plants. However, scholars should be more responsible for an infringement of the moor. They totally trample on the moor as they are doing perfect investigation. Finally guide officer deplored as he was watching those scholars who are most deplorable with a bank of ice rink. "Doctor, soldiers built the bank because they did not know its importance, the scholars are those who trampled on the moor as they were emphasizing an academic value of it." Flowerpot analyzing teams dig the ground of the moor.

The insect team in order to collect insects of moor, and an aquatic biological team in order to scoop up acid pond water, plant department in order to find the moor creature, they ran to the moor at once. They were just like those tourists who wish to dip their hands to the Crater Lake on Baekdusan, the group mind of an investigation committee were same as tourist. Investigation of the moor always leaves a bad aftertaste. The skin of the high moor is not the same as smooth billiard trail that helicopter pilot felt who made an emergency landing. The skin of the more was composed by thousands of roundish pillar with a size of a soccer ball. Bog moss which have grown during summer season, it begins to decompose when autumn comes. But, Daearmsan would be buried in a long winter even before it completely decomposed. In the following year, the bog moss should be sprouted on its 'dead body', which did not decomposed. A soccer ball pillar is a creation that a dead body of bog moss made. When the top of the small hill becomes higher, it becomes dry and there would be no more of bog moss growing.. And the top starts to change when a valley of the bottom of the hill starts to melt slowly. The high moor is heaping up in this way. It is very complicated and accurate mechanism of nature. The surface of the moor, which was not immune against outside world, even a humble dust of the earth and sand would infect it. The insectivorous plant 'a sundew' which were attached on every soccer ball pillar, they have became an out-of-the-way plant. Professor Joe Gue-Song of Gangwon University returned form Mt. Daearm and said he would not be able to find any sundews. However, it is also an old story. Asking to solider whether he saw a sundew, and he replied as saying how does it look like.