Focus Photo und Presse Agentur for Newsweek
10 June, 2005
North Korean border guards stand watch at frontier between North and South Korea. The concrete Military Demarcation Line, separating sand from asphalt areas, marks the divide between the two countries. The blue buildings straddling the line were the scene of discussions that lead to the 1953 armistice, ending the Korean War. Relations between capitalist South Korea and communist North Korea, one of the most secretive nations on earth, remain tense - but in 2005 the countries jointly celebrated the 60th anniversary of their independence from Japan. A four-day inter-Korean festival in August included a football match and cultural events and the countries linked fiber-optic cables to allow families separated for decades to take part in video reunions. In a White Paper on defense earlier in the year, South Korea had dropped its reference to North Korea as its 'main enemy'.
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