South Korea’s New Starbucks Features Views Overlooking North Korea | Watch

Starbucks has opened a new coffee shop in South Korea, offering customers the chance to enjoy their lattes while taking in the view of a quiet North Korean mountain village in the distance.

On Friday (November 28), the American coffee chain unveiled its newest location at an observatory in Aegibong Peace Ecopark, near Gimpo city—approximately 31 miles northwest of Seoul and less than a mile from North Korean territory.

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However, patrons must pass through a military checkpoint before entering the observatory, which overlooks North Korea’s Songaksan mountain, according to The Associated Press. Officials from Gimpo explained that the opening of the Starbucks was part of efforts to develop the region’s border facilities as a tourist destination, with the coffee shop symbolizing “robust security on the Korean Peninsula through the presence of this iconic capitalist brand.”

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The observatory is a key attraction at Aegibong Park, which was built on a hill that saw fierce battles during the Korean War. The park is described on its website as a “symbolic place representing peace and harmony.” Visitors to the Starbucks can not only glimpse North Korea but also view the Jogang River, which runs between the observatory and the border town of Kaepung in the North.

“I wish I could share this tasty coffee with the people in North Korea,” said Baek Hea-soon, a 48-year-old Gimpo resident, speaking to Reuters at the Starbucks opening.

As of 2024, nearly 2,000 Starbucks locations are spread across South Korea, according to SCK Company, which operates the brand in the country through a licensing deal.

Gimpo and other South Korean border cities, such as Paju, have been working to develop their border areas as tourist attractions, despite increasing tensions between the two Koreas. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been intensifying pressure on South Korea, threatening nuclear retaliation if provoked. North Korea has also been engaged in psychological and electronic warfare against the South, including flying trash-filled balloons into the South and disrupting GPS signals near the South’s largest airport.

Kaepung County is believed to be one of the main launching points for the thousands of balloons sent over in recent months. On Friday, South Korea’s military reported that North Korea had sent dozens more balloons overnight, with some trash and leaflets landing near Seoul and in neighboring Gyeonggi Province.

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