*Civilian Control Line fence in Imjingak.*

The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is an approximately 4 kilometer wide, 250 kilometer long strip of land dividing Korea into two separate countries from East to West.

It was established on July 27th, 1953, when the United Nations Command (led by the United States and also including the South Korean army and twenty other countries), the Chinese People's Liberation Army and North Korea People's Army agreed to an armistice ending the bloody, three year-long Korean War.

Each side agreed to pull their troops back 2 kilometers from the front line, creating a 4 kilometers-wide buffer zone.

The Military Demarcation Line (MDL), now the de facto border between the two Koreas, goes through the center of the DMZ and indicates where the front was when the agreement was signed.

The armistice was a purely military agreement, signed only by army commanders, and was never transformed into a peace treaty between governments. As a result, North and South Korea remain technically at war. Indeed, the South Korean military continues to refer to the border as ‘the front line’.

*A rusty Military Demarcation Line marker in the heart of the DMZ, near the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission Camp in Panmunjeon.*

Under the armistice agreement, no armed military personnel may enter the DMZ. Soldiers from both sides circumvent this clause by wearing ‘military police’ armbands to continue to patrol inside the DMZ day and night.

Given that the military demarcation line is made up of just 1,292 rusty signs, with no other physical barrier, that nature has reclaimed all its rights in this sector that has been untouched for more than seven decades, and that the area is heavily mined, the exercise is perilous. Getting lost and accidentally crossing to the other side is not that difficult. The consequences can be tragic.

*Gate to a DMZ minefield near the ‘Third Tunnel of Agression’.*

None of the so-called ‘DMZ Tours’ departing from Seoul takes you into the actual DMZ. The only ones that did, those that took visitors into the Joint Security Area (JSA) where soldiers of the two sides dramatically face each other a few metres apart, have been suspended since the defection to North Korea of an American serviceman who was taking part in one of these trips in July 2023. Visitors to the ‘Third Tunnel of Agression’ technically enter the DMZ, as this tourist attraction is located only 1.2 kilometer from the Military Demarcation Line. So do the visitors to the breathtaking but ultra-restricted Typhoon Observatory, located a mere 800 metres from the border. But in practice, both sites are part of the Civilian Control Zone.

For the time being, unless you are part of the armed forces or embedded with an official delegation, no one will let you cross the Southern Limit Line, which marks the start of the DMZ on the southern side.

The “DMZ” is the world-famous expression for the border. But separation between the two Koreas is in fact made up of a series of ‘layers’, of which the DMZ is the core one, but not the only one.

Military Demarcation Line (MDL): The former frontline during the Korean War, now the de facto land border between North and South Korea. There is no fence here: the MDL is only marked by 1,292 rusting signs which are placed at intervals. The north facing side of the signs are written in Korean and Chinese and the south facing side in Korean and English. “No person, military or civilian, shall be permitted to cross the military demarcation line unless specifically authorized to do so by the Military Armistice Commission”, states the armistice agreement. The MDL marks the core of the 250 kilometers-long Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

Joint Security Area (JSA): Also known as the Truce Village or Panmunjeom (the name of the village that once stood here). The only direct point of contact between North and South, crossed by the MDL. Between 1953 and 1976, members of either side could move freely within the whole JSA. Since the “Axe Murder Incident” - the brutal killing of two US servicemen by North Korean soldiers on August 18, 1976 - each sides remains on its side of the MDL.

*The fence of the Southern Limite Line near Cheorwon.*

Demilitarized Zone (DMZ): The buffer zone extending approximately 2 kilometers on either side of the MDL, even though the margin can be narrower (just 800 metres from the hard-to-reach Typhoon Observatory). A paradise for wildlife, even if the millions of landmines that infest it sometimes reveal three-legged deer. Both North and South Korean forces venture into it on a daily basis, sometimes leading to unexpected, dangerous confrontations.

With the exception of the inhabitants of two villages located opposite each other on either side of the MDL (Daeseong-dong in South Korea, Kijong-dong in North Korea), no civilians live inside the DMZ. While the villagers in Daeseong-dong enjoy a special status that exempts them from paying taxes and from compulsory military service, Kijong-dong is widely believed to be an empty ‘propaganda village’. Since the 1980s, two giant flag poles fly the flags of their respective country in Daesong-dong and Kijong-dong.

Southern Limit line (SLL): The southern limit of the DMZ. The first line of the South Korean army, and the first fortifications.

Northern Limit Line (NLL): The SLL equivalent for the North. The expression also applies to the de facto maritime demarcation line in the Yellow Sea.

Civilian Control Zone (CCZ): In South Korea, a 5 to 20 kilometers wide stretch of land designated to restrict public access in areas adjacent to the DMZ where the protection of civilian visitors by the military is legally required. Unlike the DMZ, the CCZ is inhabited and there are 81 villages within it.

Most of the tourist photos of the "DMZ fence" are actually photos of the CCZ fence. The CCZ also acts as the final barrier for North Korean infiltrators if they make it past the Southern Limit Line.

There is no known equivalent of the CCZ on the northern side, but this is no doubt because civilians are under constant surveillance everywhere. North Koreans need to request a permit to travel within their country and must go through checkpoints at the entrance to each province and at the exit from each major city. And only citizens with confirmed loyalty to the regime are allowed to live near the border, which limits the risk of defections.

*The Libby Bridge, on the Civilian Control Line (CCL) in Paju, October, 2024.*

Civilian Control Line (CCL): The southern limit of the Civilian Control Zone (the northern limit being the DMZ). All visitors have their IDs checked by the army as they cross the CCL in both directions. They are sometimes given a deadline for their return. In certain areas, it is necessary to request permission to cross at least seven days in advance from the military command.

*The Civilian Control Line military checkpoint in Goseong (November, 2024).*

Neutral Zone of the Han River Estuary: The DMZ ends at the confluence of the Imjin and Han rivers, about 40 km northwest of Seoul. According to the armistice agreement, the Han river estuary is deemed a "Neutral Zone" where civil shipping was supposed to be permissible, which would have allowed Seoul to be connected to the Yellow Sea. However, this never happened, and this wide waterway is always completely empty.

Understanding the border

So far apart and yet so close