The curator of the Korean Demilitarised Zone's (DMZ) museum on Monday said he hopes North and South Korea will reunite peacefully one day.

Noh Yeonsoo spoke as the Koreas are embracing a rare, Olympics-inspired reconciliation mood, after a year of heightened animosities over North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile programmes.

The countries agreed to form a single women's hockey team and have their athletes to parade together in the opening ceremony on February 9th.

The North also plans to send a 230-member cheering group and a 140-person art troupe to the South during the games.

The DMZ is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula, created during the Cold War.

It was established by the provisions of the Korean Armistice Agreement, signed in 1953 at the end of the Korean War, to serve as a buffer zone between the recently-created Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea).

It roughly divides the Korean peninsula in half, is 250 kilometres (160 miles) long, and about 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) wide.

Armed forces and civilians are prohibited to enter the DMZ.

The zone stretches 2 km (1.2 miles) each way south and north from a ceasefire line but beyond that strip the border is one of the most heavily militarised in the world.

The Goseong Unification Observatory is located next to the Civilian Control Line, which designates an additional buffer zone to the DMZ within a distance of 5 to 20km (3 to 12 miles) from the Southern Limit Line of the DMZ.

Its purpose is to limit and control the entrance of civilians into the area in order to protect and maintain the security of military facilities and operations near the DMZ.

For 40 years, the DMZ has been strictly off-limits, leading to a formation of an unplanned nature reserve.  

This has become one of the most well-preserved areas of temperate habitat in the world.

Goseong – 5 February 2018

1. Goseong Unification Observatory

2. Drummer playing outside the observatory

3. Viewing theatre inside the observatory

4. Tour guide pointing to key areas of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) on large photo banner and Civilian Control Line visible from the observatory

5. Viewing telescopes pointing out towards North Korea

6. Pan from viewing telescopes on outdoor balcony to East Sea coastline stretching from South to North Korea

7. Barbed wire fences of the Civilian Control Line protecting the now-disused Donghae Bukbu Rail Line and road connecting the two countries

8. Beach, DMZ and the Geumgangsan Mountain range in the distance

9. East Sea seen behind a viewing telescope

10. Pan across line of viewing telescopes

11. Barbed wire security fences and military watch posts in the Civilian Control Line

12. Donghae Bukbu Rail Line and road overlooked by a military watchtower

13. Statue of Buddha in a peace park next to the observatory

14. Pan from the peace park to DMZ area

15. Tourists taking photographs on a viewing point overlooking the DMZ area

16. Tracking shot along viewing point then looking out to the DMZ area

17. Pan from observatory tower to wide of coastline

18. DMZ Museum exterior

19. Tilt down to mock-up of DMZ security fencing inside the museum

20. Zoom in to DMZ warning sign inside the museum

21. Various of artefacts inside the museum including military helmets and bullets used during the Korean War

22. Various of a room made up of photographs of the victims of the Korean war

23. Pull out from DMZ Museum curator Noh Yeonsoo talking to a tour group

24. SOUNDBITE: (Korean) Noh Yeonsoo, DMZ Museum curator:

(++answering question on whether the unified Korean team at the Winter Olympics could lead to a lasting peace between North and South Korea++)

++ROUGH TRANSLATION++

"I hope we can one day make a peaceful reunification and through these Winter Olympics we can create a good mood between North and South Korea."

25. Tree covered with peace messages written by the museum visitors

26. Visitor attaches peace message to tree

27. Written messages hanging off the tree

28. Noh Yeonsoo doing TV interview in front of peace messages

29. SOUNDBITE: (Korean) Noh Yeonsoo, DMZ Museum curator:

(++answering question on whether locals are afraid of the nuclear threat coming from North Korea++)

++ROUGH TRANSLATION++

"I'm not afraid of anything because I look at North Korea every day from here, every morning. So, I would like the country to unify so I can go there by foot or by train, because we would be one country. I would like to go there and get along with the North Korean people."

30. Statue of a soldier inside the museum

31. Tilt down onto a shell from a North Korean missile in a display cabinet

32. Mock-up in museum of abandoned buildings in Cheonwon, a North Korean town destroyed during the Korean war and left abandoned by the subsequent dividing of the country

33. Pan of a display showing how the DMZ has now become a nature reserve

34. SOUNDBITE: (Korean) Noh Yeonsoo, DMZ Museum curator:

(++answering question on whether Olympic athletes and spectators should come to the museum to get a better perspective on the divide between North and South Korea++)

++ROUGH TRANSLATION++

"I welcome the athletes to come here and learn about the history. I don't want to lie and tell them that North Korea isn't terrifying, in fact they are terrified. And there is still a dangerous atmosphere between North and South Korea. But I want to explain to them the reality of what is happening now in South Korea and tell them the facts. But I don't want to make the relationship get worse (between the two countries)."

35. Disused lights and speakers used (mainly until 2004) to broadcast propaganda, including K-Pop, towards North Korea across the DMZ

36. Pan from "DMZ Museum" flags to "PyeongChang 2018" flags with the disused lighting rig and loud speakers in the background

A ceremony was held on Monday at the truce village of Panmunjom to mark the armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War more than six decades ago.

The event was led by officials from The United Nations Command (UNC) and the United States Forces Korea (USFK).

At a news conference, Lieutenant General Terrence O'Shaughnessy, United Nations Command's Deputy Commander, said North Korea's pursuit of "nuclear weapons, long-range ballistic missiles and proliferation of weapons and violations of UN Security Council Resolutions continues to threaten stability in this region and in the world."

A senior member of the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission, Chang Kwang-hyun, also urged the North to seek "a peaceful unification" of the two Koreas.

The agreement on 27 July 1953 brought the three-year Korean war to an end with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

AP TELEVISION

Panmunjom - 27 July 2015

1. Officials standing in front of the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarised zone (DMZ)

2. North Korean soldiers taking photos of the South side

3. Officials taking group photos including the United Nations Command's Deputy Commander and deputy commander of USFK (United States Forces Korea) Seventh Air Force Lieutenant General Terrence O'Shaughnessy (fifth from right), Major General Urs Gerber, NNSC (Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission) Suisse delegation (fourth from right) and senior member United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission, Chang Kwang-hyun (seventh from right)

4. Pan up from Military Demarcation Line to North Korean soldiers taking photos

5. Wide of Panmungak building, on the North Korean side of Panmunjom

6. Close of North Korean soldier

7. Chang, O'Shaughnessy, and Gerber (from left to right) and North Korean soldiers in the background

8. National flags including the US, South Korean and United Nations ones

9. Cutaway of audience

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Lieutenant General Terrence O'Shaughnessy, United Nations Command's Deputy Commander and Deputy Commander of USFK Seventh Air Force:

"Today, the armistice reflects the enduring commitment to the international community to preserve peace and stability. Its maintenance continues to be a complex task especially when dealing with the provocative actions of North Korea. The nation's pursuit of nuclear weapons, long-range ballistic missiles and proliferation of weapons and violations of UN Security Council Resolutions continues to threaten stability in this region and in the world."

11. Cutaway of audience

12. Chang arriving at lectern for speech

13. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Chang Kwang-hyun, senior member, United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission:

"(As a major general), I hope and urge the North to realise our will to abide by the ceasefire agreement and seek a peaceful unification, so that they can discard reckless and hostile attitudes and come out to the negotiation table to discuss peaceful measures that could relieve military tension on the Korean Peninsula."

14. Wide of hall

15. North Korean soldiers taking photos

16. US soldier standing behind South Korean military policeman

17. Wide of Panmunjom

18. Close of North Korean soldiers taking photos

19. North Korean guard post

20. North Korean soldier on guard

21. North and South Korean soldiers facing each other

22. Wide of Panmunjom