Starbucks Opens South Korean Cafe With Glimpse Into North Korea – CoffeeTalk

Starbucks has opened a new cafe in Gimpo city, South Korea, near the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), offering customers the opportunity to enjoy coffee while looking out at the hermit kingdom from across the Jo River. The 30-seat cafe is located at the Aegibong Peace Ecopark, about 20 miles north of Seoul, and offers an alternative to tours of the DMZ, which attracts tons of tourists each year.

The cafe’s opening comes during a time of tension between North and South Korea, as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced in January that his country would no longer seek reconciliation and reunification with South Korea. In October, Kim further threatened to use nuclear weapons to destroy South Korea if attacked, after South Korea’s president warned that if the North used nuclear weapons, it would “face the end of its regime.”

The cafe is one of only a few ways for South Koreans and international tourists to get a look inside North Korea, even if it’s from afar, without setting foot there. The location represents the “charm of Korean culture,” and local authorities have been leveraging the historical significance of the site to boost tourism.

North Korea is set to reopen limited international tourism by the end of this year, nearly five years after it completely sealed the country’s borders due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The cafe opening comes during a time of tension between the two sides, as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would no longer seek reconciliation and reunification with South Korea.

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