North Korean and US officials are meeting in the 'truce village' of Panmunjom — these extraordinary photos show what it's like

Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

North Korean and US officials are currently holding talks to still organize a summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un on June 12.

Those officials are meeting in Panmunjom, the site of the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement in 1953 that's known as the "truce village."

Since then, Panmunjom has become the only part of the demilitarized zone where soldiers from the two Koreas face one another every day, and where foreign dignitaries come to peer into North Korea for themselves.

But life in Panmunjom and the surrounding villages is remarkably ordinary. People shop, kids attend schools, and farmers till the fields — though mostly with a backdrop of high tensions and a military presence.

There's also a thriving tourist scene. According to PRI, visitors must sign a form that says they understand it "will entail entry into a hostile area and the possibility of injury or death."

Here's what the "truce village" is like.

The "Peace House" sits on the South Korean side of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone, where talks between North Korea and South will take place on Tuesday.

Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

The six blue-and-white buildings, used as conference rooms, straddle the demarcation line.

RICHARD A. BROOKS/AFP/Getty Images

Over the years, many photos have captured North Korean soldiers looking into these rooms while South Korean officials use them.

Jeon Heon-Kyun-pool/Getty Images

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

See Also:

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