An ancient pavilion stands inside an abandoned area.
It stands inside an old but preserved compound.
Inside is a spacious discussion table.
Two generals and their assistants enter the pavilion.
Each entourage emerges into space from a different door, and sits at the table.
The executives sit facing each other and exchange glances, but not smiles.
A line passes in the middle of the table.
It is not one design item or another: it is the boundary line, which marks where one ends and the other begins.
The two, who represent decades of suspicion and bitter enemies, will not cross it.
Behind both is not only a rich and bloody history, but also a neutral area - two miles of airline behind each of them, where weapons are not allowed.
On the brink of this demilitarized zone rested a military force in high concentration.
Probably - the largest concentration of weapons in the world, scattered on one border line.
The films that symbolize hope for a different future, Photo: AFP
This situation may sound like the beginning of an imaginary post-apocalyptic film, or as a backdrop for a recent cartoon series, but it is not.
This is the reality on the border between South and North Korea.
The decades in which the parties were kept apart along this unimaginative line did not soften the drama.
The surrounding ground is soaked in the blood of missing soldiers, anti-human mines and many memories on both sides.
It is also full of history and archeology, with dynasties of ancient kings that established the area as their capital.
In this pressure cooker, the one who enjoys unhindered - is nature.
The demilitarized zone includes hundreds of square miles where vegetation thrives, walks on all fours and has wings.
The attractiveness of this place is made up of several factors, but with the bottom line it is hard to argue - it is one of the most sought after areas by tourists in South Korea.
South Korean soldier near demilitarized zone, Photo: AFP
The beginning of this story lies in the end of World War II, when the world was unknowingly preparing for the Cold War.
UN forces, which fought alongside South Korea and the United States, fought along this border against North Korean and Chinese forces.
The Korean War (1953-1950) came to a halt, after which it was agreed to establish a buffer zone.
Over the years, it will become the last border in the world of the Cold War.
The product is a demilitarized zone about 240 km long and about four km wide, within which the border between the two Koreas passes.
Along this area is the largest fortified border left in the world, as well as a concentration of weapons that can also not be found in any other border on Earth.
The process of fortification and armament around this area began in the 1960s.
It is customary to attribute to North Korea the beginning of the fortification and armament along the line.
Aggression from the north has continued over the years, culminating in the sending of disguised guerrilla forces to South Korean soldiers in an attempted assassination of the president in 1968.
Despite the basic hostility - and some would say eternal - over the years efforts have been made to use the demilitarized zone for peaceful purposes.
All of these came to naught.
The suspicion and deep roots of the conflict do not allow this peninsula to unite.
In fact, the only place where South and North can meet is in the Armistice Village.
The desolate village stands in the demilitarized zone, and is the only place where South Korean and North Korean soldiers face each other.
They do not carry weapons, and only a low concrete barrier separates them from each other.
The picture may sound quiet, but this area has known violent incidents, in one of which North Korean soldiers attacked and killed two American military personnel.
Larger
During the 1980s, the South Koreans decided to raise their flag high in front of the north.
The South Korean government project included a flagpole, which was 98.4 meters high.
The flag itself is huge, weighing 130 kg. During what was then called the "Flag War," the North Korean government responded accordingly: The North flag was hoisted at the top of a 160-meter-high tower and weighed no less than 270 kg.
This anecdote may sound amusing today, but it illustrates well the situation around this border.
The parties observe each other, react immediately and maintain a balance of power.
The Northern Army has repeatedly tried to undermine this balance, and its flagship project has become a tourist attraction.
In 1974, South Korea discovered a tunnel dug under the demilitarized zone.
A South Korean army patrol uncovered the tunnel, while encountering fire from soldiers from the north.
During the scan of the tunnel, two senior American officers were killed by an explosive device placed in it.
The exposed tunnel was relatively narrow, lighted and reinforced with concrete, and areas were found for sleeping and weapons storage.
The North Koreans claimed it was a coal mining tunnel, and even painted some of the rock walls black as an alibi.
Less than a year later, another tunnel was discovered, more than 50 meters below the ground.
This tunnel, the second to be found, as mentioned, was found to be significantly higher and wider than the previous one.
The last chord in the flag war, Photo: AFP
Terrorism tunnels
In 1978 another tunnel was discovered - and this time not by chance.
The information was revealed to the South Koreans by a deserter, who worked on the excavation of the said tunnel.
In 1990, another infiltration cave was uncovered, similar in structure and shape to others exposed.
How many more are left?
This is an excellent and unanswered question.
What is clear is the gravity produced by these tunnels for the average tourist.
South Korea offers organized tours of the third discovered tunnel, during which travelers can visit it and be exposed to the sights of the region.
It is a sought-after attraction, with 1.2 million tourists coming to it every year.
To the natural attraction are also added the stories of various desertion attempts from the north side to the south side.
One of the most famous of which is about a group of tourists from the north side, one of whom started running towards the southern part, chanting about his desire to defect.
It was spontaneously joined by several other tourists from the group.
This incident ended successfully for the same runner who crossed the lines, but involved an exchange of fire and soldiers killed.
Various intrusion attempts were also made from south to north.
Over the years, there have been reports of some 7,700 South Koreans infiltrating North Korea.
Soldiers, agents and spies made their way north with the aim of hitting various targets and thwarting enemy operations.
There is not much information about these operations, which were aimed primarily at military targets and industrial buildings, except for the fact that some 5,300 of those South Koreans never crossed the border back south.
Those mentioned above are not the only ones who died in this blood-soaked land - it is important to also mention the 36,000 American soldiers who died during the Korean War.
Of those, more than 7,800 Americans are still defined as missing since that war.
According to US intelligence estimates, more than 5,000 of these soldiers were missing in North Korea - and their fate is unknown.
After the end of the Cold War, North Korea returned to the U.S. 208 cabinets containing the remains of 400 people, and only half of them were identified.
Several dozen coffins have since been returned, of which only about 40 service personnel have been identified.
Remains of thousands of U.S., French, Chinese and northern and southern armies are still hidden throughout the demilitarized zone.
Distant remains
And there is also one positive point within this memory-soaked buffer zone.
The demilitarized zone, which was based on cultivated agricultural land before the war, is deserted.
Land that stands for decade after decade without human intervention, - and nature does its thing unhindered.
Wild forests, streams and swamps serve here as land for unprecedented natural prosperity.
Hundreds of rare bird species, black bears and even Siberian tigers find their quiet place here.
These endangered species are in fact facing one danger: the remnants of that war - more than two million mines are scattered here.
North and South are cooperating on this issue, with the aim of enabling travelers, researchers and conservationists to operate safely to the entrance.
Researchers and conservationists work here not only to preserve nature: the demilitarized zone is the heart of the three ancient kingdoms of the Korean people.
Many archeological remains are found here, such as those with a distant historical significance, relevant to both sides of the barricade.
The remains scattered here, some more than 1,000 years old, are a testament to the glorious past of the people in the area.
A land that knew prosperity and prosperity, and was unnaturally divided following a war of powers and power struggles.
The Security Strip - this demilitarized zone, which divides South and North Korea - is without a doubt one of the most unique corners in the world.
Its meaning and history make it a place not to be missed, and the life that nature has soaked in makes it even more coveted and attractive.
And who knows, maybe it will be nature and the past that will force both sides to create a different future.
Perhaps the blossoming and prosperity of these animals, and the desire to preserve the common past - will pave the way for a peaceful and common life.
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