The Korean Demilitarized Zone is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north. The demilitarized zone is a border barrier that divides the Korean Peninsula roughly in half. It was established to serve as a buffer zone between the countries of North and South Korea under the provisions of the Korean Armistice Agreement in 1953, an agreement between North Korea, China and the United Nations Command.
The DMZ is 250 kilometres long and about 4 kilometres wide. There have been various incidents in and around the DMZ, with military and civilian casualties on both sides. Within the DMZ is a meeting point between the two nations, where negotiations take place: the small Joint Security Area near the western end of the zone.