Back to the Olympics Newsfeed

In South Korea's Olympic hills, traces of the North abound

GOSEONG, South Korea (AP) — A former seaside villa for North Korea's ruling Kim family. A captured North Korean spy submarine. A front-line observatory that allows curious visitors to peer at parts of a picturesque North Korean mountain across the heavily-mined Demilitarized Zone.

These are bitter reminders of the seven decades of the Korean division as they play out in South Korea's Gangwon province, whose three towns, together, are hosting the ongoing Winter Olympics.

As the games turn into a place for a flurry of rare reconciliation steps by the two at-odds Koreas, many Olympic fans and others are visiting these North Korea-related sites to learn more about the rivals' turbulent history.