Border between North Korea and South Korea

The border in Panmunjeom , North Korea on the left

The border between North Korea and South Korea , also known as the Military Demarcation Line , extends from the Yellow Sea in the west to the Sea of Japan in the east over a length of 150 miles. It has divided the Korean Peninsula into North Korea and South Korea since 1953 . The peninsula had already been divided into two zones of occupation , which led to the Korean War .

The Demilitarized Zone extends along the border with a width of about four kilometers. In the zone are the villages of Daeseong-dong on the South Korean side and Kijongng-dong on the North Korean side. At Panmunjeom , a place through which the border runs, there is the bridge of no return ; it is a photo opportunity for tourists.

The South Korean capital Seoul is about 50 km south.

The approximately 200 kilometer long maritime border, the Northern Limit Line , was set by a commander of the UN troops in 1953. In 1999 the government in Pyongyang established a maritime border further south. The North Korean military shelled the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong in an attack in 2010 .

Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un met at the border in late June 2019

The border is a place of symbolic encounters. On June 30, 2019, Donald Trump met with Kim Jong-un right at the border following the G20 summit in Osaka . As a result, both heads of government made short visits on both sides.