Gimpo, South Korea ¨C The contrast cannot be starker: selfie-taking tourists sipping coffee at Starbucks ¡ª an icon of globalization and capitalism ¡ª while looking out over reclusive, communist North Korea.
Welcome to Aegibong Starbucks in Gimpo ¡ª less than an hour¡¯s drive from South Korea¡¯s capital Seoul but a world away from its closed-off northern neighbor less than two kilometers across the Han river.
Perched on a hilltop beneath the Aegibong Peace Ecopark observatory where telescopes peek into the secluded state, the shop has drawn tens of thousands from South Korea and abroad since opening in November 2024.
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