Panmunjom DMZ, North Korea

Panmunjom is a small village located 10 km east of Kaesong (North Korea) and 48 km northwest of Seoul (South Korea). It is offically known as the Truce Village. The village sits on what is now the known as the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The DMZ is a strip of No Man's Land that runs across the Korean Peninsula serving as a buffer zone between North and South Korea. It literally cuts the Korean Peninsula roughly into half, crossing the 38th parallel. It is 248 km long and approximately 4km wide, and it is the most heavily fortified border in the world.

The truce that ended the Korean War was signed here in 1953, but as peace was never agreed between the two sides, both countries are still technically at war. Within minutes of this border are more than one million soldiers on each side in battle order with enough arsenal to obliterate the whole Korean Peninsula. Pillboxes, barbed wire and tank stoppers line the entire border and stretch way back to Pyongyang in the North and Seoul in the South. A visit to Panmunjom requires you to sign an Indemnity that you are going into a war zone. It is that tense here.

The three blue buildings where the Joint Security Agency (JSA) of both countries meet on a regular basis.

The South Korean flag as seen from the North Korean side. One of the tallest and largest flag in the world.

The North Korean flag is the tallest and largest in the world. It is said the flag is as big as a soccer field. This is seen a few km away. The North Koreans deliberately had the flag post built taller than the South Koreans.

North Korean soldiers guarding the Blue buildings.

South Korean soldiers in the foreground with North Korean soldiers in the background.

South Korean soldiers on guard watching the North Korean side.

The concrete pavement divides North and South Korea. The right side with the better looking pebble is South Korea.

The Armistice Room.

South Korean soldiers guarding the North Korea's door. Away from this picture are North Korean soldiers guarding the door that opens to the South. The idea of guarding doors of the opposite sides is to prevent defection from either countries.

Demarcation Signboard along the DMZ. There are mines all over this stretch of No Man's Land.

Heavily fortified border with mines and cameras.

Another view of the heavily fortified border

A North Korean village in the vicinity of the DMZ.

The Freedom Building in South Korea as seen from North Korea.

The monument comemerating the Axe Incident in 1974 in which North Korean soldiers hacked two American officers to death over a tree cutting incident.

Bridge of No Return
This is the only known bridge crossing between North and South Korea. In reality, to travel between North to South Korea, one needs to catch a flight from Pyongyang then onto Beijing before landing at Seoul's Inchon Airport. A three hour trip.