A new Starbucks coffee shop in South Korea offers customers a view of a village in neighboring North Korea, NBC News reports.
The shop, located in Aegibong Peace Ecopark about 30 miles from Seoul near Gimpo, South Korea, includes multiple observation binoculars mounted on poles with a view over the Demilitarized Zone and the North Korean border.
"People used to think of this area near the North Korean border as a dark and gloomy place," Gimpo Mayor Kim Byung-soo told reporters. "But now ... this place could now become an important tourist destination for security [and] peace that can be seen as young, bright and warm.”
One visitor to the shop, an 80-year-old Vietnam War veteran named Lim Jong-chul, told NBC: "Having a cup of coffee here, I feel like I can look at North Korea, a nation divided from us, with a bit more calm and peace of mind. Before, the concept of security felt rigid and tense, but now, with this cafe here, it feels more peaceful and reassuring."