By Sebin Choi and Hyunsu Yim
GIMPO, South Korea (Reuters) – The world’s last Cold War frontier now has a Starbucks store in South Korea where customers can get a glimpse of the war-torn border to the North, while sipping a latte.
Hundreds turned out Friday for the coffeehouse chain’s new US store opening at a test site near the city of Gimpo, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) northwest of Seoul and near the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas.
The DMZ has become an unpopular destination for foreign and domestic tourists, despite tensions on the Korean peninsula in recent years.
Visitors must pass through a military checkpoint on the way to the Starbucks outlet, although it is in a less well-known and less militarized area than the more popular tourist spots along the border like the Panmunjom truce village.
A river called “neutral water” runs between the observatory and the border town of Kaepung to the North only 1.4 km. On a clear day, North Korean citizens can be seen at the observatory through its binoculars.
The two Koreas have been at war since the end of the three-year conflict in 1953. A peace treaty was never signed.
In recent months, tensions have flared again over garbage balloons floating from North Korea, which Pyongyang says are a response to balloons carrying anti-government leaflets sent by activists in the South.
North Korea bombed Korean roads and railway lines on its side of the border last month, and Seoul warned Pyongyang that any use of nuclear weapons would mean the end of the North Korean regime.
Baek Hea-soon, a 48-year-old resident of Gimpo, came on Friday morning to try out the new Starbucks store.
“I wish I could share this delicious coffee with the people of North Korea,” he said.
North Korea in recent decades has experienced severe famines, including a famine in the 1990s, often exacerbated by natural disasters such as floods that damage crops.
Starbucks, with its international recognition, can change the “dark and depressing” image of the area, said Gimpo Mayor Kim Byung-soo.
“This area can now become an important tourist destination for security (and) peace that can be considered young, bright and warm, and attracting the attention of the world,” Kim told reporters.
Starbucks is ubiquitous in South Korea, with 1,980 stores as of the third quarter of 2024, according to SCK Company, which operates Starbucks in the country through a licensing agreement.
In 2021, Starbucks Corp sold its stake in Starbucks Korea to Starbucks Coffee Korea Co, now known as SCK Company, and Singaporean economic fund GIC.
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