The DMZ roughly follows the 38th parallel, which was the original line of demarcation between the two Koreas at the end of World War II, according to Brittanica.com. It is 160 miles long.
The DMZ was established in 1953 as part of the armistice agreement between the United Nations, North Korea and China, Time reported.
The zone is basically a buffer between the two Koreas. Neither country can fire weapons, build up military personnel and equipment, or invoke any act of aggression, the magazine reported.
According to Time, four tunnels from North Korea into South Korea have been discovered, most recently in 1990. The tunnels were capable of transferring up to 30,000 troops in an hour, the magazine reported.
The village of Panmunjom is located within the DMZ. It was the site of peace discussions during the Korea war and has been the site of several conferences through the years involving the two Koreas, Brittanica reported.
There have been incidents at the DMZ, most notably in January 1968, when a team of 31 North Korean commandos crossed the DMZ and attempted to assassinate South Korean President Park Chung-Hee, according to Time.
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