150 miles of electric fences 2 million landmines and thousands of opposing soldiers this is the demilitarized zone or dmz and it's the dividing line between north and south korea for 60 years the dmz has rested near the 38th parallel of the globe running from the han river on the western side to the north korean town of qason on the east but why the answer involves a century of foreign meddling in the korean peninsula the first unified korean kingdom was founded in 668 a.d for hundreds of years it remained unified becoming known as the hermit kingdom for its lack of interaction with the international community it especially limited contact with the west but at the start of the 20th century things began to change korea had been caught in the crossfires of the russo-japanese war by the war's end in 1905 the victor japan had staked a claim in the peninsula by 1910 the japanese had officially annexed korea as a colony and would continue to rule for decades installing puppet emperors banning korean history books and trying to wipe out their language over the years rebellions by the korean people were common but never successful japan even forced thousands of koreans to fight in world war ii a war japan lost with japan vanquished it seemed for a brief moment that korea might once again forge its own future but that wasn't the case in the post-war settlement the u.s and ussr took it upon themselves to decide what to do about the korean peninsula the intention was for both sides to help stabilize korea and facilitate the removal of japanese forces but they had to decide which parts of the land mass they would each oversee when world war ii ended korea was divided in half and occupied by two of the allied powers so they just picked an arbitrary middle point and said here's where we'll split it two u.s army officers charles bone steel and dean rusk were responsible for picking the line in the sand during the potsdam conference in july of 1945 a line which became enshrined in general order number one the guidelines that dictated japan's post-war surrender it was declared that all japanese forces in korea north of 38 degrees north latitude shall surrender to the commander-in-chief of soviet forces and that all japanese forces south of 38 degrees north latitude shall surrender to the commander-in-chief u.s army forces the korean people who had hoped for post-war independence had no say in whether the country would be split or where it is my sincere belief that our great victories on the battlefields of the world will be followed by complete cooperation resulting in continuance of world peace the us and ussr professed good intentions even claiming that they would eventually hold elections to appoint a single leader of a unified korea but as the cold war began the argument over korea's system of government a capitalist democracy or a communist state became insurmountable in north korea the soviet interpretation of administration and occupation consisted of impressing communism on the country in 1948 singh men ree was elected president of south korea and in the north kim il-sung became the first in a series of dynastic rulers who continue to hold power in north korea to this day tensions grew on both sides and each claimed to represent korea as a whole and in 1950 it reached the breaking point on june 25th 1950 the korean war broke out when north korean forces invaded the south it was a deadly war that killed nearly 4 million soldiers and civilians on both sides the soviet people believed that as a first step discussions should be started between the belligerents for a cease fire the war finally halted with a truce in 1953 but with no formal declaration of peace the two koreas technically remained at war the pot had boiled over and now simmered quietly waiting for the heat to be applied once more each side agreed to pull their military forces back roughly one mile on their side of the dividing line setting aside the two and a half mile wide and 150 mile long area that formerly became the dmz or demilitarized zone in the center stands the joint security area often known as the truce village in panmunjom where north and south signed the truce agreement on july 27 1953 [Music] the military demarcation line shows exactly where the two countries are split this heavily fortified area is the only place on the entire peninsula where north and south military and political leaders can come face to face the dmz has since become one of the most heavily militarized borders in the entire world it is nearly impossible to cross but that hasn't stopped people from trying most north korean defectors have chosen to escape via their border with china with as many as 300 000 defections since the end of the korean war a lucky few have made it across the dmz but many more have died trying such attempted crossings or even the perception of people trying to cross have led to numerous violent altercations at the border from 1966 to 1969 fighting at the border was so intense with over 600 north korean south korean and american soldiers killed that it became known by some as the second korean war the south has even discovered tunnels built by the north as supposed tunnels of aggression meant as possible surprise invasion routes into the south the south korean government now believe the north koreans have dug 14 tunnels under the dmz and there could be as many as 20. north korean defectors in the 1970s alerted the government to their existence claiming kim il-sung had personally ordered them to be built an accusation the north has denied both sides have consistently used various forms of propaganda at the dividing line from loudspeakers broadcasting across the dmz and even balloons dropping propaganda leaflets on the other side but in 2004 they agreed to suspend such tactics for years relations between north and south worsened but in 2018 there was a glimmer of hope north korean leader kim jong-un met with south korean president moon jae-in for the first time at the dmz they then held a summit on the south korean side of the joint security area it was the first time a north korean leader had ever set foot in the south since the korean war ceasefire in 1953. you