Starbucks inaugurates cafe with views of North Korea
The American coffeehouse chain has launched a new outlet in the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Read Full Article at RT.com
TroibNews 
Starbucks has opened a new cafe at a lookout point on the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), allowing visitors to enjoy pumpkin spice lattes while looking across into North Korea.
The cafe, which launched on Friday, is situated within the Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo city, approximately 32 kilometers north of Seoul, South Korea. From the terrace, guests can view a section of the Han River deemed neutral waters and the North Korean town of Kaephung, located just over a kilometer away.
On days with clear visibility, patrons can use telescopes to observe daily life in North Korea across one of the world’s most heavily militarized borders, as reported by Reuters.
The Korean War reached a halt with an armistice agreement in 1953 but was never formally concluded. This armistice resulted in the division of the Korean Peninsula along the 38th parallel, separating the communist North from the capitalist South with a 4-kilometer-wide DMZ. Each side has numerous fortifications and lookout posts along the boundary, with North Korea believed to have over 10,000 artillery pieces positioned along its side, including in mountainous areas behind Kaephung.
According to a 2020 report by the RAND Corporation, a think tank associated with the US military, around 6,000 of these artillery pieces are within range of major South Korean urban areas. The report estimated that if conflict erupted between the two Koreas, over 205,000 people could perish in Seoul, Incheon, Gimpo, and other South Korean cities within just one hour.
The Aegibong Peace Ecopark is located at ‘Hill 154’, a site that saw intense fighting during the Korean War and changed hands multiple times during the three-year conflict. Due to its proximity to the DMZ, visitors are required to complete an entry form and undergo a background check conducted by the Korean Marine Corps.
The mayor of Gimpo stated that the establishment of a Starbucks at the DMZ symbolizes strength for the South, highlighting the “robust security on the Korean Peninsula through the presence of this iconic capitalist brand.”
This cafe opening coincides with escalating tensions between the two Koreas. Earlier this year, North Korea initiated a campaign of sending balloons filled with trash and waste toward Gimpo and Seoul in retaliation to South Korea releasing propaganda leaflets into Northern territory. North Korea subsequently declared that its artillery units near the border were prepared to “open fire” and later destroyed portions of roadways leading southward.
Pyongyang asserts that it took these actions in response to repeated South Korean drone incursions into its airspace and recent joint US-South Korean military drills, which North Korea views as “provocative war drills for aggression,” according to a statement from the country’s Foreign Ministry.
Allen M Lee contributed to this report for TROIB News
The cafe, which launched on Friday, is situated within the Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo city, approximately 32 kilometers north of Seoul, South Korea. From the terrace, guests can view a section of the Han River deemed neutral waters and the North Korean town of Kaephung, located just over a kilometer away.
On days with clear visibility, patrons can use telescopes to observe daily life in North Korea across one of the world’s most heavily militarized borders, as reported by Reuters.
The Korean War reached a halt with an armistice agreement in 1953 but was never formally concluded. This armistice resulted in the division of the Korean Peninsula along the 38th parallel, separating the communist North from the capitalist South with a 4-kilometer-wide DMZ. Each side has numerous fortifications and lookout posts along the boundary, with North Korea believed to have over 10,000 artillery pieces positioned along its side, including in mountainous areas behind Kaephung.
According to a 2020 report by the RAND Corporation, a think tank associated with the US military, around 6,000 of these artillery pieces are within range of major South Korean urban areas. The report estimated that if conflict erupted between the two Koreas, over 205,000 people could perish in Seoul, Incheon, Gimpo, and other South Korean cities within just one hour.
The Aegibong Peace Ecopark is located at ‘Hill 154’, a site that saw intense fighting during the Korean War and changed hands multiple times during the three-year conflict. Due to its proximity to the DMZ, visitors are required to complete an entry form and undergo a background check conducted by the Korean Marine Corps.
The mayor of Gimpo stated that the establishment of a Starbucks at the DMZ symbolizes strength for the South, highlighting the “robust security on the Korean Peninsula through the presence of this iconic capitalist brand.”
This cafe opening coincides with escalating tensions between the two Koreas. Earlier this year, North Korea initiated a campaign of sending balloons filled with trash and waste toward Gimpo and Seoul in retaliation to South Korea releasing propaganda leaflets into Northern territory. North Korea subsequently declared that its artillery units near the border were prepared to “open fire” and later destroyed portions of roadways leading southward.
Pyongyang asserts that it took these actions in response to repeated South Korean drone incursions into its airspace and recent joint US-South Korean military drills, which North Korea views as “provocative war drills for aggression,” according to a statement from the country’s Foreign Ministry.
Allen M Lee contributed to this report for TROIB News
