One of the most militarised borders in the world, the DMZ operates under strict armistice conditions following the end of the Korean War in 1953.
Photographer Park Jongwoo gained unconditional access, becoming the very first official photojournalist to enter the land separating North and South Korea.
In 2010, on the 60th anniversary of the Korean War, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense invited Park to document the DMZ, an area normally inaccessible to civilians and of which no comprehensive photographic record existed.
Park’s photographs show the stark contrast between the military presence (seen through barbed wire, outposts, and armed troops which have led to sporadic violence), and the natural beauty of the DMZ.
Park Jongwoo said: “There is no actual ‘border,’ like a barbed wire fence, between the South and North inside DMZ. “You can run into North Korean patrols any time. Some locations are within firing range of the North Korean soldiers, there is no time for taking any picture in these spots.”
“In the early morning, you could see the North Korean soldiers tired from last night’s guard nodding off, trying to get rid of head lice, or raising crops due to insufficient food supplies. You would not imagine them to fight in a war properly,” Jongwoo said.
Today the DMZ is recognized as one of the world’s best-preserved temperate habitats and home to several endangered species of flora and fauna.
Park Jongwoo’s ‘DMZ: The Demilitarized Zone of Korea’ was published in September 2017 by Steidl. Available to buy here.