DMZ walks: Hiking trails open along South and North Korean border

The new 'peace trail' follows the heavily armed Demilitarized Zone

The new hiking trails will take in the barren landscape of the DMZ (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A series of hiking routes have opened along one of the world’s most dangerous borders.

The South Korean “peace trail” follows the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the 2.5-mile-wide stretch of land that separates the republic with North Korea.

The government-organised trail will open in three areas along the 160-mile-long border, in the counties of Goseong-gun and Cheorwon-gun in Gangwon-do province and Paju in Gyeonggi-do province.

The first approved trail, which is 2km long, has opened in Goseong-gun in eastern South Korea. It will take hikers from the Unification Observatory to Mount Kumgang Observatory.

Hikers will walk along barbed-wire fences that mark the start of the no man’s land between the two countries.

The hiking project is designed to ease tension between North and South Korea, which have been separated since 1948.

The trails follow an agreement signed last September, in which the two nations agreed to dismantle the heavily fortified border.

To apply to take part in the organised hikes, visitors have to apply online.