DMZ Water – Some Danger in your Bottled Water
Ignoring the land minds and decades of tension, apparently the DMZ (the stretch of “demilitarized” land between North and South Korea) is the source of “pristene” water as its been left alone since 1953. Proving that no water is out of bounds for the ever growing number of bottling companies, DMZ water is selling throughout Korea and the company is considering exporting.
http://www.watertechonline.com/news.asp?N_ID=73068
World’s most dangerous bottled water source
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
CAMP RED CLOUD, SOUTH KOREA — Many water bottlers draw their raw water from pristine places, but only one has a very hazardous source — the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating North Korea and South Korea, according to a December 1 article in Stars and Stripes.
Lotte Chilsung Co., a bottler in South Korea, is now drawing water from beneath the DMZ for its operation, after having obtained special permission from the South Korea Ministry of Defense to set up a pumping operation, reported Stars and Stripes, a newspaper circulated to the US military.
Because the DMZ has been in a totally natural state since the end of the Korean War in 1953, its ecosystem “is the best in the world,” claims Chun Woo-chul, a spokesman for the company. Sprinkled with land mines, heavily fortified and considered one of the most dangerous places on Earth, the DMZ is a strip of land 2.5 miles wide and 155 miles long, the article says.
For the past three months, the company has been producing and selling its “DMZ” brand of bottled water, sales of which have been good throughout Korea, Chun was quoted saying in the article. He said the company is thinking about exporting the brand.
Naturalists have previously noted the abundance and variety of wildlife and plant species that thrive in the DMZ. Chun said company officials at first were concerned that a “DMZ” brand might have negative connotations due to the continuing tensions between the two Koreas, but apparently many bottled water consumers also know the zone is untouched by human hands.
Thirsty after that run? Why not down a DMZ?
By Jon Rabiroff and Hwang Hae-rym, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Jon Rabiroff/Stars and Stripes
The makers of DMZ bottled water hope the name conjures up images of the natural beauty of Korea’s Demilitarized Zone and not the danger and tension.
CAMP RED CLOUD, South Korea — After a long run or grueling workout, U.S. service members around South Korea will now be able to reach for a refreshing bottle of “DMZ” brand natural mineral water.
That’s right, bottled water named after the Demilitarized Zone — one of the most dangerous places on the planet, known for its land mines and the ongoing tension between North and South Korea.
Chun Woo-chul, spokesman for the Lotte Chilsung Co., which distributes the water nationwide, conceded that company officials “had fears and concerns about the negative image many people have of the DMZ, such as heightened tensions and conflict between the two Koreas, war, division, lethal mines and how the area is heavily fortified.”
However, he said, surveys showed that more people had a positive image of how the DMZ’s “ecosystem is the best in the world, that has been left untouched by humans for the past 50 years.”
“We decided there was no better name than (Lotte Icis) DMZ 2km to pinpoint the purity and cleanness of this water,” Chun said.
Indeed, ecologists consider the DMZ one of the most important natural areas in the world thanks to the fact that the strip — which is 2.5 miles wide and runs 155 miles from coast to coast — has been left unspoiled by humans since hostilities ended in 1953.
Chun said the name on the bottles is more than a marketing ploy. The water is drawn from inside the DMZ (the “2km” on the label) and bottled nearby, he said. In fact, the company needed special permission from the South Korea Ministry of National Defense to set up its pumping operation.
The DMZ water has been on the market for about three months, and sales have been so good company officials are talking about possibly distributing it overseas.
“Reaction has been good and hot,” Chun said. “We are so proud of the quality of this water drawn from an area where nature has been left undisturbed.”
