DMZ (Korea)

The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) was created on 27 July 1953 by the Korean Armistice Agreement signed at Panmunjom by representatives of the United Nations Command, the Korean People's Army, and the Chinese People's Volunteer Army. South Korea's government did not sign. The agreement halted active fighting in the Korean War but did not produce a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas technically still at war.

The DMZ runs approximately 250 km (about 155 miles) across the peninsula, broadly following the 38th parallel but deviating north of it in the east and south of it in the west. It extends roughly 2 km on either side of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), the actual border traced by the ceasefire front line. Despite its name, the surrounding areas are among the most heavily militarized on Earth, with fortifications, minefields, and observation posts on both sides.

Key features include:

• The Joint Security Area (JSA) at Panmunjom, the only point where forces of both sides historically stood face-to-face and where armistice talks and diplomatic meetings occur.
• The Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the Yellow Sea, a disputed maritime extension drawn by the UN Command in 1953 and rejected by Pyongyang.
• Civilian villages: Daeseong-dong in the South and Kijŏng-dong in the North.

The zone has been the site of repeated incidents, including the 1968 Blue House raid, the 1976 axe murder incident, periodic tunnel discoveries, and the 2017 defection of North Korean soldier Oh Chong Song. It has also hosted diplomatic milestones, notably the April 2018 Panmunjom Declaration between Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un, and the June 2019 meeting at which Donald Trump briefly crossed into North Korea. Paradoxically, restricted human access has made the DMZ an unintended wildlife refuge.