On April 18, nine days before the North-South Korea summit, things were generally calm at the Joint Security Area (JSA) in Panmunjom. However, the House of Peace, the venue for the summit, was bustling with preparations in full swing. The House of Peace was completed in December 1989 and was renovated once last April. A vinyl curtain was installed at the entrance, and construction materials were placed in the area. The House of Peace is a three-story building, with a conference room and waiting rooms on the second floor. A military official said, "From what I know, North Korea visited the House of Peace for a prior inspection. I think North Koreans are coming down more often recently."

About 50 meters away from the House of Peace stands the Freedom House. The place is used mostly for inter-Korean communications, but in the upcoming summit, the first floor will be used as a press center. When you enter the first floor of the Freedom House and exit through the second floor, you can see the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) across the two-lane road. The line is marked with a concrete barrier that is only 50 cm wide and rises only 10 cm.

The meeting room of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (T1), the Military Armistice Commission conference room (T2), and the Military Armistice Committee planning room (T3) all straddle the Military Demarcation Line and are located in both North and South Korea. When North and South Korean delegations traveled for senior-level talks to discuss North Korea's participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in January, they traveled across the MDL through a passage between T1 and T2. The passage between T2 and T3 is mostly used by soldiers. T stands for temporary, meaning that the buildings are temporary.

In the upcoming summit, if Kim Jong-un, chairman of North Korea’s State Affairs Commission, crosses the MDL on foot, he is likely to walk between T1 and T2. But since the passage between T2 and T3 is connected directly to the front of Panmungak, he may choose to use this route. Chairman Kim will enter the Freedom House on the second floor and leave through the first floor. Here, President Moon Jae-in is expected to greet Chairman Kim and the two men will head toward the House of Peace. In this process, interest is on whether there will be an honor guard inspection by the South Korean military. In 2000 and 2007 when former presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun visited North Korea, Kim Jong-il, chairman of the National Defense Commission had the Korean People's Army stage an honor guard inspection, a cordial reception for the South Korean leaders.

If Chairman Kim travels by car, he may cross the lawn to the right of T3 and go to the House of Peace on the road next to the Freedom House. A metal chain hangs from post to post in this lawn, but the chain can be removed temporarily to allow vehicle access. In 1998 when Chung Ju-yung, honorary chairman of Hyundai Group, led a herd of cattle to North Korea, this path was used.

The reality of a divided nation is buried throughout the demilitarized zone. In the demilitarized zone, there is the Daeseong-dong village in the South and the Kijong-dong village in the North. The distance between the two villages is 1.8 km. In Daeseong-dong, the tallest flagpole in South Korea stands at a height of 100m. In Kijong-dong, stands the world's fourth tallest flagpole at a height of 160m. This is the result of a race between the two Koreas to hoist their flags higher up in the sky.