Photo: Copyright Park Jongwoo, courtesy of Steidl.
Photo: Copyright Park Jongwoo, courtesy of Steidl.
On June 25, 1950, Korea was torn apart by civil war. Though the fighting went on for 37 months, the war never ended, as both sides refused to sign a formal peace agreement. Instead, they constructed the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a 248 km long, 4 km wide buffer zone – the site of a fully armed Cold War that begins a mere 60 km from downtown Seoul.
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Here, forests are filled with landmines and barbed wire fences, patrolled by military armed with the most up-to-date equipment. Civilians are prohibited from entering the DMZ, which unfolds like circles of hell, from the furthest areas of the Civilian Control Zone, all the way to the joint security area, where the two nations stand in a 60-year face off.
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In 2010, on the 60th anniversary of the war, the Korean Ministry of National Defense decided to make the first photographic record of the DMZ ever. Photographer Park Jongwoo was tapped for the job, giving him unconditional access to the South Korean Guard Posts (GPs) on the site, the results of which have just been published in DMZ: Demilitarized Zone (Steidl).
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Photo: Copyright Park Jongwoo, courtesy of Steidl.