Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)

The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is a 2.5-mile-wide (4-kilometer) strip of land on the Korean Peninsula that separates the nations of North and South Korea. The DMZ was established at the end of the Korean War (1950–1953) to act as a buffer area between the warring nations. The heavily militarized border is marked by barbed-wire fences and landmines and is guarded by thousands of North and South Korean soldiers. The DMZ runs across the peninsula for 160 miles (258 kilometers), loosely following the geographic parallel at latitude 38° north. While the zone has been the site of conflict and international tensions since its creation, it also houses a conference area where the two sides conduct negotiations. Surprisingly, the DMZ is a popular tourist destination and an unlikely sanctuary for several endangered animal and bird species.

Background

The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) was created as a result of the Korean War, which was itself born out of the aftermath of World War II (1939–1945). At the start of the twentieth century, Korea was an independent nation until it was annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1910. After the Japanese were defeated in World War II, the victorious Allies were tasked with dismantling the empire and deciding what to do with Japan’s former imperial holdings. In regards to Korea, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to divide the country along the 38th parallel, with the Soviets controlling territory north of the line, and the Americans controlling the territory south of the line.

While the initial intent was to eventually unify Korea as an independent nation, the two halves became embroiled in the growing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1948, communist nationalists backed by the Soviets established the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the north; while the anti-communist Republic of Korea established itself in the south with the support of the United States. Both the north and south wanted a unified Korea but with their respective systems of government firmly in control. Tensions ran high as the two sides engaged in numerous altercations, resulting in an estimated ten thousand combined military fatalities by 1950.

Since the end of World War II, the United States had become increasingly alarmed at the spread of Soviet-backed communism around the world. In 1947, US President Harry Truman formally announced that the United States would provide military and economic support to any foreign government that was facing the possibility of a communist takeover. This policy, known as the Truman Doctrine, was put to the test on June 25, 1950, when seventy-five thousand North Korean troops stormed over the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea. With the approval of the United Nations, the United States sent in thousands of troops to join the South Korean army in an effort to repel the North.

After several initial setbacks, US and South Korean forces had pushed the North Koreans back and seemed on the verge of winning the war by October 1950. However, communist China, which shares a border with North Korea, entered the war on the side of North Korea in November. By 1951, the two sides were making little military headway and settled into a bloody stalemate. Truce talks began in June 1951 but little progress was made as the fighting continued into 1953. On July 27, 1953, the United States, North Korea, and China reached an agreement to stop hostilities, but South Korea refused to sign the armistice deal. As a result, while the fighting ended soon after the agreement, a state of war remained in effect between North and South Korea. That state of war technically still existed as of 2025.

Overview

Part of the conditions for the armistice was the establishment of a demilitarized zone (DMZ) along the front lines, which was an area that roughly followed the 38th parallel at the time the fighting ended. According to the agreement, both sides would move their troops back 2,200 yards, creating a 2.5-mile-wide buffer zone separating North and South Korea. Troops are allowed to patrol their nation’s borders and can enter into the DMZ but are not allowed to cross the central point known as the Military Demarcation Line (MDL)—the official border between the two Koreas. In addition to thousands of armed soldiers, the DMZ is protected on both sides by barbed- and razor-wire fences, landmines, and anti-tank traps.

The 160-mile-long DMZ runs at a southwestern angle from the Sea of Japan on the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula down to the mouth of the Han River on the Yellow Sea. South Korea’s capital of Seoul is located about 37 miles (60 kilometers) south of the DMZ, while the capital of North Korea, Pyongyang, is about 130 miles (209 kilometers) to the north. The village of Panmunjom, where the 1953 armistice agreement was signed, lies within the DMZ near its western edge. The village is now part of the Joint Security Area (JSA), a neutral space about 875-yards (800-meters) wide that straddles the MDL.

The JSA is the only place along the DMZ where North and South Korean soldiers stand face to face and is used for diplomatic negotiations between the two nations. The area contains a number of distinctive blue conference buildings as well as permanent liaison offices for both Koreas. The MDL splits the conference buildings and even runs through the middle of the conference tables. According to the 1953 agreement, a maximum of thirty-five soldiers from each side are allowed to be in the JSA. At first, the soldiers were allowed to carry a pistol or non-automatic rifle, but in 2019, the nations agreed that the soldiers would no longer be armed.

Along the borders of the DMZ, North Korea is believed to operate about 160 guard posts, while South Korea operates about 60. Prior to 2018, the number of landmines in the South Korean section of the DMZ was estimated at about 1.2 million; another 800,000 were believed to have been planted by the North. After two South Korean soldiers were badly injured by a landmine in 2015, the two sides agreed to begin removing thousands of the devices. The effort began in 2018. The nations have also engaged in propaganda battles over the years, blaring messages at each other via loudspeakers in the DMZ until the practice was halted in 2018.

Since the creation of the DMZ, hundreds of soldiers from North and South Korea as well as from the United States have been killed in incidents in the area. In the late 1960s, the two sides engaged in a series of clashes near the DMZ that coincided with a North Korean attempt to assassinate South Korea’s president in 1968. The most potentially damaging international incident at the DMZ occurred in 1976 when North Korean troops murdered two American soldiers with an ax in the JSA. The Americans had been ordered to cut down a tree that blocked their view of the North from a checkpoint. In response, the United States increased its military readiness in the area and North Korea sent extra troops and established machine gun positions in the DMZ. The incident was diffused when North Korea’s president publicly expressed regret for the killings.

From 1974 to 1990, North Korea attempted to dig several tunnels under the DMZ in what experts believe was a plan to invade South Korea. Some of the tunnels were more than 1-mile long and capable of allowing thousands of troops to walk through in rows of four. The tunnels were a direct violation of the 1953 armistice agreement; however, North Korea has long maintained that it was not responsible for digging the tunnels.

In 1983, Ronald Reagan became the first US president to visit the DMZ while in office. A decade later, Bill Clinton stood on a bridge in the JSA that was used for prisoner exchanges between the Koreas. He referred to the DMZ as the “scariest place on Earth.” Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama also made visits to the DMZ during their tenures. In 2019, President Donald Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un at the JSA and crossed the MDL, becoming the first US president to step foot in North Korea.

Despite its notorious reputation, the Korean DMZ is also a popular tourist destination. In 2019, CNN reported that 1.2 million tourists visited the JSA from the South Korean side, while about thirty thousand visited from North Korea. However, the number of tourists has dropped since the COVID-19 global pandemic in 2020. All visitors must be accompanied by guides and book their trips through official tour operators. While the JSA is a popular destination, visitors can also tour the abandoned infiltration tunnels and view the area from several scenic observation points.

With military and civilian travel in the DMZ greatly restricted, the area has slowly been reclaimed by the natural world and is a safe haven for many species of plants and animals. Several animal and bird species that are endangered elsewhere thrive in the DMZ, including the Siberian tiger, red-crowned crane, and Amur leopard. Scientists estimate that the area is home to almost three thousand plant species, more than three hundred bird species, and seventy animal species.

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