Kijong-dong - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Kijŏng-dong (sometimes romanized as Gijeong-dong) is a village in Panmun-gun, North Korea. It is also called Peace Village (평화촌) on the northern side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). [1][2] By contrast, in South Korea it is known as Propaganda village (선전마을).[3] It is situated 1.8 kilometers from the South Korean village of Daeseong-dong, the only inhabited village in the southern side of the Korean DMZ. A guidebook published in the north states: 'In this village located in the Demilitarized Zone is the Panmun Cooperative Farm embracing over 200 households. The village has a kindergarten, creche [day care], senior middle school and a people's hospital.'[4] At various times field workers and building workers are seen in Kijŏng-dong. However, many in the south believe that Kijŏng-dong was built within the DMZ purely for the purpose of propaganda. The village reportedly has no residents except soldiers. At night lights come on in some of the buildings, but they turn on in the same buildings every night at the same time. The world's highest flag tower[5] stands at the entrance of Kijŏng-dong (160 meters tall) flying a North Korean flag. This tower was not originally as tall as it is now, but when the flag pole in Daeseong-dong was extended, thus making it taller than the Kijŏng-dong pole, the North again quickly extended their pole taller in what some have called the “flagpole war” (깃대 전쟁)."
Daeseong-dong, "South Korea, is a town in South Korea close to the North Korean border. It lies within the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The village is about one mile south of the Bridge of No Return towards the North and 7.5 miles from the city of Kaeseong, North Korea.
Daeseong-dong belongs administratively to Josan-ri, Gunnae-myeon in Paju. It is the only civilian habitation within the Southern portion of the DMZ with Panmunjeom 0.6 miles northeast, with the actual Military Demarcation Line (the de facto border between South and North Korea) only 400 yards north of the village.
Daeseong-dong is only one mile opposite of Gijeong-dong, a propaganda village in North Korea's portion of the DMZ. Here is the very place that an observer can see Korea's division, seeing the different national flags fluttering on gigantic flagpoles in Daeseong-dong and Gijeong-dong respectively.
While the DMZ is under the administration of the Allied Control Commission, the residents of Daesong-dong are considered South Korean civilians and subject to South Korean government law. Residents of Daesong-dong have both benefits and restrictions. For example, the residents have the same rights to vote and be educated, but they are exempted from national defense duties (conscription) and taxation. However, there are restrictions on many matters including the freedom of residence and change of residence, as well as an 11pm curfew."
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