Peace House under renovation for inter-Korea summit

Graphic by Cho Sang-won

By Kim Bo-eun

PANMUNJEOM ― In April, the leaders of the two Koreas will hold a historic summit in the truce village of Panmunjeom. Perhaps as dramatic as the meeting is its backdrop.

Panmunjeom, located 74 kilometers from Seoul and 177 kilometers from Pyongyang, is the only area along the demilitarized zone where South and North Korean forces stand face-to-face. The military demarcation line (MDL) runs through the area, separating the South and North.

It is where the Korean War armistice was signed in July 1953. The building where the signing took place still stands _ it is now a museum on the North's side.

Although the village was quiet on the day of a reporters' visit Tuesday, it is the backdrop of a number of incidents _ including the dramatic defection of a North Korean soldier last November and the murder of two U.S. Army captains by North Korean soldiers using an axe in 1976.

Officials at Panmunjeom recalled hearing gunfire on the day the soldier who defected drove a military vehicle into Panmunjeom and ran across the MDL to the South, as he was shot multiple times by North Korean soldiers.

Panmunjeom has two main buildings on each side of the MDL, and a cluster of buildings at the center occupied by the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission and the United Nations Command.

The Peace House on the South's side of the truce village of Panmunjeom, where the inter-Korean summit in April will take place / Courtesy of Unification Ministry

On the South's side are Freedom House and Peace House. Freedom House is where the inter-Korean contact office is located, and Peace House is where meetings take place.

Peace House was not opened to the press on the day of their visit because of renovations being made for the summit.

From the roof of Freedom House, one is able to see the now-shuttered Gaeseong Industrial Complex on a clear day, but it was not visible on the day of the visit due to the high level of fine dust. The industrial complex was closed down in February 2016, after North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear and long-range missile tests.

The contact office is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. However, ever since inter-Korean relations began to thaw early this year, its hours have been extended significantly, according to an official there.

A phone line, cut in February 2016, was restored Jan. 3 after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed his intention to take part in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in his New Year address on Jan. 1, and the South proposed a high-level meeting to discuss the matter.

“Since January, the office closes around 11 p.m. to 12 p.m. _ and we have had only a few holidays,” the official said.

On the desk with a telephone and fax machine lays a dictionary.

“Because of the differences in language, we have to look up terms in the dictionary from time to time,” an official said.

On the North's side are Panmungak and Tongilgak, which are the counterparts fo Freedom House and Peace House.

There is a tacit agreement between the two Koreas that the venues for their talks should rotate between the buildings of each side.

The high-level meeting held on Jan. 9 took place at Peace House, which is why the high-level meeting on Thursday will take place at Tongilgak and the summit will be at Peace House.

A total of 355 meetings between North and South Korean officials have been held at Panmunjeom.

High-level officials of the North and South will meet there on Thursday to arrange the details of the summit in April.

The first two summits in 2000 and 2007 between South Korean presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun with their North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-il, father of Kim Jong-un, took place in Pyongyang.

It is the first time Kim Jong-un will step foot in the South.

Panmunjeom is open for tourists, and foreigners account for the majority of visitors, both on the North and South sides.