S. Koreans flock to border-village replica
Inter-Korean summit stirs positive emotions
NAMYANGJU, South Korea – This movie studio in the eastern outskirts of Seoul has drawn big crowds lately, but not because they’re film buffs.
Hordes of South Koreans are coming to Namyangju Studios to visit the studio’s outdoor replica of the Panmunjom border village — the site of the historic meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the end of April.
School groups, couples and families are making the pilgrimage, with many eager to take photos to re-create the famous handshake the two leaders shared across a raised concrete line that officially divides the Korean Peninsula.
The movie set, which was used for the 2000 action thriller Joint Security Area by director Chan-wook Park, includes the familiar blue buildings of Panmunjom and a replica of Panmungak hall on the North Korean side of the border.
The real Panmunjom, located inside the heavily fortified, 160-mile-long, nearly 3-mile-wide Demilitarized Zone that snakes across the peninsula, is relatively easy for tourists to visit, but South Koreans must go through a lengthy clearance process to get there.
Access to the studio run by the government-supported Korean Film Council is much easier, especially since admission is free in May.
“I watched the inter-Korean summit, and although this is just a movie set, I felt the same excitement,” said Jo Minseo, 16, a high school student here on a class trip.
Attitudes toward North Korea’s Kim have softened dramatically after the summit, in which both sides agreed to work toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and a peace treaty to officially end the Korean War.
For many in the South, seeing Kim interact with their president and publicly call for the countries’ unification seemed to have a humanizing effect.
A poll by Korean broadcaster MBC taken after the summit found that 78% of South Koreans said they trusted Kim. That number marks an incredible leap from a Gallup Korea poll taken in March, which found only 10% of South Koreans had a favorable view of Kim.
A survey from Gallup Korea on May 4 found that 88% had a positive reaction to the inter-Korean summit, and 65% said their opinion of Kim improved after the meeting between leaders.
“I used to think (North Koreans) are very hostile,” Jo said. “But when I saw (Kim) talking with President Moon Jaein … I thought there’s a part in him that’s human, surprisingly not so different from us. That’s why I feel less hostile toward him now.”
Cho Yoon-sang, 40, an optometrist visiting the studio with his wife and two children, also said his opinion of Kim changed after seeing him at the summit.
“He didn’t seem closed but rather natural and open,” Cho said. “Maybe it’s because he’s young. When he mentioned giving up the nuclear program, it somehow gave me a peaceful feeling. I have two children, and it would be nice to show them a unified nation.”
The Korean War ended in 1953, but the two sides are technically still at war because an armistice was signed to stop fighting instead of a peace treaty. Last month’s summit between Moon and Kim was only the third time leaders of the two countries have met since the war.
Pyongyang announced it would dismantle its Punggye-ri nuclear test site this month, a move President Trump called a “very smart and gracious gesture.” Trump and Kim are scheduled to meet face-to-face at a summit June 12 in Singapore.
Visitors can enjoy the replica Panmunjom until the end of May, when Namyangju Studios shuts down to relocate to the southern port city of Busan.
Song Yeon-ja, 60, who lives near the studio, said she’s visited many times but now feels differently.
“I feel it every time I visit here, the tragic division of the country,” she said. “Before the summit, everything seemed distant. … But after President Moon Jaein and Kim Jong Un met, everything now seems so close and friendly.”
“Although this is just a movie set, I felt the same excitement.”