This week in July 1953, an armistice agreement was signed ending a brutal three-year conflict
on the Korean peninsula... until a final peace agreement could be found.
More than six decades years later...
no peace deal has been found and the armistice has created the most heavily militarized border
in the world.
63 Years After the Ceasefire... that what's left behind.
We take you inside Korea's DMZ and over the line into North Korea.
In the middle of rugged terrain... stands this newly built, modern railway station.
Inside... a sign shows this is the way to Pyongyang.
But, security stations are unmanned and rows of immaculate seats remain empty.
"The shiny and relatively new station, was built to connect north and south Korea.
Sign shows, this, is the way to Pyongyang, you can even buy a ticket, and the rail lines
are built in, all ready to go, but until relations improve, the ticket is just souvenir, because
trains aren't running."
Beyond the red stop sign lies North Korea.
For now, the station is a symbol and hope of what could be improved relations with the
North...
something that will likely happen first with talks in a small building in the JSA.
Camp Bonifas.
This is where the Republic of Korea and the United States JSA battalions jointly serve
under the United Nations Command flag.
We're briefed on the history of the Korean War, the armistice, and the current status.
"The northern boundary line and southern boundary line were each set at two kilometer distance
from the MDL.
This four kilometer wide and 248 km long buffer zone defined by boundaries came to be known
as the demilitarized zone, or DMZ."
The opening salvo in the Cold War, the Korean War, was fought from 1950 until 1953, when
the the armistice ended open warfare, but the war has unofficially been on for more
than six decades now.
As recently as in August 1976, an overwhelming force of club- and axe-wielding North Korean
guards assaulted UN Security Personnel while they monitored a civilian tree-trimming work
party...
here... in the JSA... killing two UNC officers were beaten to death.
Unlike threats from Iran or Syria's civil war, the Korean situation has been unresolved
for 63 years...
its most recognized flashpoint... is right here, Panmunjom.
"This is a joint security area along the Korean border.
We're walking towards the line that divides the two Koreas, I have to actually walk this
way because we can't shoot right or left we can only shoot forward, there's a lot of restrictions
on cameras.
Now this is the blue room, which is the focal point of the JSA and we'll be walking inside
the room."
The focal point of the JSA: the UN Military Armistice Commission's conference room T-2.
It is here that a ceasefire was negotiated after the Korean War.
In fact, it's still used for negotiations.
"The microphones on the table are recording and monitored 24 hours a day.
They also represent the military demarcation line which is further extended to my right
and to my left, outside this building."
"So literally these microphone line here on the table defines the line, so South Korea
on this side, and North Korea on this side."
On July 27th, 1953... the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed... in practice ending
the bloody three year Korean War.
Signed by U.S. representing the United Nations Command, North Korea's Korean People's Army
and the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army... it was designed to "insure a complete cessation
of hostilities and of all acts of armed force until a final peaceful settlement is achieved.
No "final peaceful settlement" has been achieved yet.
This concrete slab is literally the border.
We're shooting from the northern side, 17 inches by 5 inches concrete, that's it, that
marks the border, since 1953.
A line runs down the middle of these huts.
Half of it is owned by South Korea, half is owned by North Korea.
"The grey building on the far right, is North Korean recreation center, this building has
a purpose, keeping 10 to 20 armed KPA soldiers whenever inter-Korean talks are held here
in the JSA."
North Korean and South Korean soldiers stand here every single day and stare at each other...
both sides constantly watching every move the other makes.
This border is armed to the teeth.
The area all around is heavily mined...
remnants from the Korean War more than six decades ago.
Amidst the mine fields is a bridge.
North Korea is on the other side.
There is actually a cement wall to prevent defectors from coming over to the South.
This was the site of the prisoner exchange that followed the armistice.
Once a prisoner crossed the bridge his fate was sealed forever... hence the name Bridge
of No Return.
The border, very tense at the best of times... is coupled with an almost seeming serenity...
here at the DMZ... the safest yet the most dangerous battlefield in the world.
63 years after the ceasefire, it's still a lonely place.