The Joint Security Area is the only portion of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) where North and South Korean forces stand face-to-face. The JSA is used by the two Koreas for diplomatic engagements and, until March 1991, was also the site of military negotiations between North Korea and the United Nations Command (UNC).
North Korean soldiers standing guard at the JSA between the blue buildings. View from the north. To the rear, the ground floor of Freedom House, in South Korea. The low-level concrete ledge running between the two soldiers is the border mark in the security area.
Main North Korean building, Panmungak, from Freedom House Pagoda in 1976
A view of Panmungak, from Freedom House Pagoda in 2009
The Military Demarcation Line separating between the North (left) and South (right), marked by a concrete slab between the conference buildings
Panmunjom, also known as Panmunjeom, now located in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea or Panmun-guyok, Kaesong, North Korea, was a village just north of the de facto border between North and South Korea, where the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement that ended the Korean War was signed. The building where the armistice was signed still stands.
Original truce building, North Korean Peace Museum (1976)
Site of negotiations in 1951
The world's sixth tallest flagpole flying a 270 kg (595 lb) Flag of North Korea, is 160 m (525 ft) in height, over Kijŏng-dong ("Peace village"), near Panmunjom.
