Thanks to Starbucks, coffee lovers can now enjoy a dark roast while overlooking the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea.
The Seattle-based coffee house chain opened a new store Friday near Gimpo, South Korea, where customers can get a glimpse of what it's like across the heavily militarized border in the north.
Hundreds of Java drinkers gathered for the grand opening of the chain's newest location at an observation deck near the city, about 50 miles northwest of the capital Seoul and close to the demilitarized zone.
Visitors must pass through a military checkpoint on their way to the Starbucks store, but it is in a lesser-known and less militarized area than popular tourist spots along the border, such as Panmunjom Armistice Village. .
On a clear day, you can see North Korean villagers through a telescope from the Starbucks observation deck.
Baek Hee-sung, 48, a resident of Gimpo, arrived early Friday morning to try out the new Starbucks store.
“I wish I could share this delicious coffee with the people of North Korea,” she told Reuters.
Less than half a mile from the DMZ, the propaganda village of Gyefun is believed to be largely uninhabited, and its structures were once used to set up loudspeakers to broadcast political messages to South Korea.
The Han River, designated as “neutral waters” between the two countries, is less than a mile away and flows between the observatory and Kepun in the north.
Kim Byung-soo, the mayor of Gimpo, said Starbucks, which has worldwide recognition, could change the “dark and gloomy” image of the border region.
“This place is now seen as young, bright and warm, and has the potential to become an important tourist destination for security (and) peace that attracts the world's attention,” Kim told reporters.
According to Starbucks Coffee Korea Company (now known as SCK Company), which operates Starbucks in the country through a licensing agreement, Starbucks is widely distributed throughout South Korea, with 1,980 stores as of the third quarter of 2024. Masu.
In 2021, Starbucks sold its stake in Starbucks Korea to SCK Company and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC.
Despite heightened tensions on the peninsula in recent years, the buffer zone separating north and south has become an unlikely attraction for foreign and local tourists alike.
After three years of conflict ended with an armistice in 1953, the two Koreas are technically still at war. A peace treaty has not been concluded.
Tensions have also escalated in recent months over balloons of garbage washed ashore from North Korea, which North Korea claims is a response to balloons carrying anti-regime leaflets sent by South Korean activists.
Last month, North Korea bombed inter-Korean roads and railways along the border, while South Korea warned Pyongyang that any use of nuclear weapons would mean the end of the North Korean regime.
North Korea has suffered severe food shortages in recent decades, including famine in the 1990s, often exacerbated by natural disasters such as floods that damage crops.
with post wire
