Not too far from this point you can actually see into North Korea. At one point this road snakes along the Imjin River, and is elevated and lined with trees. The curved barbed wire fences and watchtowers lining the river run along its length, but I wondered whether the road was not designed so that people in North Korea could see the traffic swarming along it. North Korea is much poorer, and a key way to overthrow the country, or for the local people to get fedup with hardship and poverty. All outside communication is cut off, so one of the few ways North Koreans can learn anything about the world beyond their country is to look across the river. It's a long way across, and I'm sure local North Korean residents and farmers are not permitted near the southern boundary anyway. I think something like 1 million troops (in the North) patrol the length of the North South axis. On the Southern side, by contrast, farmers are paid subsidies to till the soils between the miltary bases. There's a lot less urban development as you get closer and closer to the DMZ though.