Living on the faultline... Within sixty kilometres of Seoul, a conurbation of twenty million, Stalinist troops, pumped up with fear and loathing, stand ready to shoot on sight to defend an improverished and irrational hermit kingdom.

South Korea has created theme park attractions at key points along the Demilitarised Zone: shiny monuments and lookout towers, lush green parks and an extravagant train station where no tickets are ever sold. Reality sinks in when armed US troops board the bus en route to Panmunjom.... later to point out sites where their compatriots have been savagely murdered whilst performing routine patrol.

Meanwhile, sixty kilometres away, Seoul prepares for another summer night's partying in the parks, with rock concerts and food festivals. The contrast is simply surreal.

These images were taken with Nikon D200 (10 mpx) using RAW format, and are available for licensing.