This past weekend at Imjingak, an area within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) popular with tourists, business appeared down only slightly.

CNN: Don't be afraid, Seoul's message to tourists

Aided by South Korean activists, they could begin moving north toward the Yalu River border with China or south to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which has divided North from South since the 1953 Korean War Armistice Agreement.

WSJ: John Bolton: 'The Great Successor'

"I remember when only a handful of people came, " says Tran Hong Chi, a guide for the somewhat grisly tours into the Demilitarized Zone or DMZ, a heavily bombed and severely poisoned territory that served as the boundary between north and south Vietnam.

CNN: Stops and Starts

To understand how North Korea policy has become a diplomatic no-man's land empty, hopeless and likely to stay that way, if recent pronouncements by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry are any indication it helps to visit the physical no-man's land of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

WSJ: Michael Auslin: The Mirage of Peace in the DMZ

Mr. Obama will also visit the inter-Korean border known as the demilitarized zone, or DMZ, which every president has done since Ronald Reagan.

WSJ: China Seeks Peacemaker Role on North Korea

Later in the morning, the President will visit the Demilitarized Zone, also known as the DMZ.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

" Finally, one strangely and unfortunately unique spot you should take in while in South Korea, just for the pure gonzo thrill (and surprising natural beauty) is the DMZ, described in the story, "Seoul's Demilitarized Zone.

BBC: This is Seoul week