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February 24, 1966

Dr. Harold J. Coolidge
Pacific Science Board
National Academy of Sciences
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20418

Dear Coolidge:

I have just not Dr. Kang Yung Sun at Seoul National University, and we discussed the ecological projects that they hope to begin in the DMZ. I explained some ideas that I have about studying an area in the DMZ, preferably a small drainage area of a few square kilometers, and area immediately adjacent to it outside the DMZ. One can be control the other. In time enough data could be obtained to relate differences in the water yield of an unspoiled area and one interrupted by man's activities. I also explained an idea that I have had since my first visit to Korea to study ground-water pollution and the movement of bacteria  and virus in the alluvium of Korea's river valleys. This country is an ideal field laboratory to establish a small study area where they have been fertilizing the rice fields for more than 1,000 years with night soil. For study purpose, past time is almost infinite. If I prove my thesis that the soil and fine alluvial materials filter out or slow down the movement of organisms to the point that they die before they have traveled downwards to the aquifer, then we will have made a contribution. Some people are reluctant to try to develop a water supply in a rice field area.

Included in our meeting was Dr. Hong Soon Woo, botanist, and Dr. Sung, Chairman of the Department of Geology. I also met Drs. Kim Bong Kyun and Lee, both geologists who have studied or trained in the U.S.

All Korean governmental agencies and teaching establishments have the problem of transportation. They do not have vehicles, therefore they cannot go to the field on a regular schedule. This is going to hamper any attempts to study ecological conditions in the DMZ. If ever you meet any well-heeled citizens or representatives of philanthropic organizations who are looking for a worthy cause, perhaps you could interest them in donating a field vehicle, such as a Land Rover or Jeep, to this group at the university who are trying to do scientific work. I'll not say that such a contribution is the most important that could be made to Korean Science, but the training of scientific personnel in field methods will advance slowly because these people do not have free access to their problem areas.