As Korean village became the toughest place in the world
This territory belongs to two States, and some call it the toughest place on the planet. We are talking about the village of Panmunjom: this is one of the few places where soldiers from North Korea, South Korea and the United States every day we meet face to face.
Before to enter this area, visitors are required to sign a document that warns them that they are in “hostile zone, where there is a risk to get injured or die.”
This territory belongs to two States, and some call it the toughest place on the planet.
We are talking about the village of Panmunjom: this is one of the few places where soldiers from North Korea, South Korea and the United States every day we meet face to face.
It was here in 1953 signed the armistice agreement that ended the Korean war. Here the two countries on Tuesday resumed talks after two years of mutual threats and rising tensions over the nuclear ambitions of the DPRK.
A new dialogue began after North Korean leader Kim Jong-UN decided to make a step towards its southern neighbour and declared that the DPRK is ready to send its athletes to the winter Olympic games in Pyeongchang. Panmunjom was again at the centre of political life.
Negotiations have just begun, but already the first results. As the head of the delegation of South Korea at the talks, Pyongyang made a proposal to send a group of athletes, officials and journalists.
Seoul, in turn, offered to increase contacts between the two countries: in particular, to hold the next meeting of separated families and to restore the dialogue on military lines.
Panmunjom is located in the so-called demilitarized zone, which covers an area 4 km wide and 238 km long on the border between the two Koreas. This is one of the most carefully protected places on the planet.
This sparsely populated area with a unique flora and fauna is the so-called “truce village” that continues to be unique geopolitical and historical phenomenon.
Hostile area
When in 1948 was founded the DPRK and the Republic of Korea, the geographical dividing line between them turned into an actual state border.