Starbucks has just opened a coffee shop on an observation tower near one of the world's most heavily armed borders: the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), at the border between North and South Korea.
The cafe, which officially opened for its first day of business on Friday, is located in Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo city. It is attached to an observation deck where people can see across the Jo River into North Korea, reported CNN.
Weather permitting, patrons of the Starbucks may be able to see buildings in Kaepung County across the border. However, with a good camera or visual aids such as binoculars, patrons might even be able to spot people in North Korea.
"I wish I could share this tasty coffee with the people living in North Korea right in front of us," local resident Baek Hea-soon, 48, told Reuters.
"The concept of security felt rigid and tense, but now, with this cafe here, it feels more peaceful and reassuring," Lim Jong-chul, an 80-year-old patron who fought in the Vietnam War, told the outlet.
Starbucks' latest outpost has helped South Koreans feel a sense of calm in regard to their nation's relationship with North Korea, despite tensions ebbing and flowing over the past year. In October, Pyongyang seemingly moved away from its goals of unification when it blew up inter-Korean roads and railways. North Korea has also frequently sent balloons carrying trash into South Korean airspace, with one even making it to Seoul's presidential compound.
"People used to think of this area near the North Korean border as a dark and gloomy place," Kim Byung-soo, mayor of Gimpo, told NBC News. "But now ... this place could now become an important tourist destination for security [and] peace that can be seen as young, bright and warm."
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