As Climate Warms, S. Korea Fights New Border Threat: Malarial Mosquitoes

AFP/APP

South Korea: Near the heavily fortified border dividing North and South Korea, a monitoring device is constantly at work not tracking missiles or troop movements, but capturing malaria-carrying mosquitoes that might cross the border.

Despite its advanced healthcare system and years of effort, South Korea has struggled to achieve “malaria-free” status, partly due to its proximity to North Korea, where the disease is prevalent. This year, South Korea issued a nationwide malaria warning, with scientists attributing the increased risk to climate change. Warmer springs and heavier rainfall are expected to bring more mosquito-borne diseases to the peninsula unless cooperation between the two Koreas, which are still technically at war, improves.

The core issue is the DMZ, a four-kilometre-wide no-man’s land running the length of the 250-kilometre (155-mile) border. The demilitarized zone is covered in lush forests and wetlands, largely untouched by human activity since its establishment after the 1953 ceasefire that ended Korean War hostilities.

The heavily mined border area has become an ecological refuge for rare species—such as the Asiatic black bear photographed in 2018. Scientists also note that the DMZ is an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes, including malaria carriers that can travel up to 12 kilometres. According to Kim Hyun-woo, a staff scientist at Seoul’s Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the DMZ’s stagnant water and abundant wildlife provide ample resources for mosquitoes to feed on and lay eggs.

Although South Korea once believed it had eradicated malaria, the disease re-emerged in 1993 when a soldier stationed on the DMZ was found to be infected. Since then, malaria cases have persisted, with a nearly 80 percent increase last year to 747 cases, up from 420 in 2022.

“The DMZ is not an area where pest control can be effectively carried out,” said Kim Dong-gun, an environmental biology professor at Sahmyook University in Seoul. As mosquito populations rise, more malaria carriers are feeding on soldiers in the border region, leading to a continuous occurrence of malaria cases.