Yanggu County, Gangwon
Template:Use dmy Template:Infobox settlement Yanggu County (Yanggu-gun) is a county in Gangwon Province, South Korea.
The northern part of Yanggu County was part of the front line for much of the Korean War, and now borders the Demilitarized Zone. Several Korean War battle sites are located in Yanggu County, including Bloody Ridge, Heartbreak Ridge, and Hill 1179 (Daeusan). Yanggu is located in what is claimed to be the geographic center of the Korean peninsula. Dochon-ri village in Nam-myeon<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> in Yanggu is called the "navel of Korea".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
Yanggu County was the location of the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge and the month-long Battle of Heartbreak Ridge during the Korean War.<ref name=k>Template:Cite web</ref> Due to its proximity to the Demilitarized Zone following the Korean ceasefire, the area was closed to civilians for several years which led to nature reclaiming the area around the battlefield. The battlefield was later opened to become a memorial and nature trail which goes around all of the memorials erected to soldiers that had died during those battles within the Yanggu County area.<Ref name=k /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Economy
Since 2005, Yanggu County has become a main area for apple orchards. This increase was attributed to climate change causing orchards in lower South Korean provinces to become more susceptible to soil degradation, more active fruit moths and scale insects, and anthracnose infecting apple trees. It led to a number of farmers migrating north towards Yanggu due to the climate being more suitable for growing apples.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Twin towns – sister cities
Template:See also Yanggu is twinned with:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Template:Flagicon Chizu, Japan
- Template:Flagicon Jianli, China
- Template:Flagicon Saint-Mandé, France