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Anderson Cooper 360-20130411-08:06:00

tower, that's north korea. you can see the north korean flag flying right there. and that village right underneath, that's what north korea calls a peace village. but south korea refers to it as propaganda. the u.s. doesn't believe anyone lives here. this is all for show. one of the world's most lethal borders is up close, just a fence, barbed wire and a trench. the zone, dmz uninhabitable, so up touched that rare plant species soar here. and in a bizarre contradiction of the war's edge, tourists are allowed to visit this lookout, the final stop of our press tour, where we meet american brothers. >> it's surreal knowing that just a few hundred yards that way, there's people starving and being tortured and so forth. it's unreal. >> people were asking me, family, friends, if i was afraid

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Anderson Cooper 360-20130411-08:04:00

korean war some 60 years ago. it could be a front line if a new war erupted. she has more on what's going on. what else is going on? >> reporter: well, wolf, we can tell you that when you go to the border, you certainly get a sense of how it feels between the two countries. remember, the korean war ended at armistice. it never truly ended. and that's apparent at the border with a thin line between these two countries. there's near absolute silence in the most militarized border on the planet. south korean soldiers on the edge of a fight. staring down a sworn enemy that unblinkingly stares right back. sometimes through binoculars, peeking out through windows. this area we're walking into is -- these huts are divided in half. this side is south korea. over there is north korea.

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Anderson Cooper 360-20130411-08:07:00

coming over here. i, too, knowing the history, said i think it's going to be okay. >> reporter: a peek into a reclusive nation, while the world guesses what move it will make next. as tense as it is right up at the border, people who were there frequently at the dmz say they haven't noticed any discernible change, especially on the north. they haven't noticed there's anything they're doing differently. but remember, wolf, this is where we see the theater of war to avoid real war. wolf? >> and you're back in seoul now. that's only 20 or 30 miles from the demilitarized zone. a city of many millions of people. i assume everyone there recognizes they're within easy artillery range of the thousands of artillery pieces the north koreans have just north of the demilitarized zone. >> reporter: oh, yeah. everybody knows that. everyone knows they can get in their car. and in an hour, drive up to the dmz. they know this. they grew up with this.

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Anderson Cooper 360-20130411-08:17:00

♪ column upon column of highly disciplined soldiers. this is north korea's massive fighting force and they're watching what's going on. they're trained specifically to wage war against south korean and american military forces on the korean peninsula. cnn's tom foreman and cnn contributor retired u.s. army general spider marks take a closer look. >> wolf, the cornerstone of everything we've been talking about for the past couple of weeks is the north korean army. general, walk us through the force of this army. >> this is an army that has over about 1 million folks under arms, very large reserve component. mandatory service, from a couple of years up to ten years. >> a large force, particularly large if we think about the size of the area involved. look at this map of the united states. that's where north korea would fit, roughly in the same space as mississippi. so, as militaries go, this is a very massive force for a small country.

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The Situation Room-20130410-22:18:00

watching what's going on. they're trained specifically to wage war against south korean and american military forces on the korean peninsula. cnn's tom foreman and cnn contributor retired u.s. army general spider marks take a closer look. >> wolf, the cornerstone of everything we've been talking about for the past couple of weeks is the north korean army. general, walk us through the force of this army. >> this is an army that has over about 1 million folks under arms, very large reserve component. mandatory service, from a couple of years up to ten years. >> a large force, particularly large if we think about the size of the area involved. look at this map of the united states. that's where north korea would fit, roughly in the same space as mississippi. so as militaries go, this is a very massive force for a small country. >> but a very paranoid leadership. >> let's talk about the breakdown of that. the if you talk about the leadership, what is the number one quality required of the top military? >> loyalty to the communist party and the leader right here, kim jong-un.

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The Situation Room-20130410-22:06:00

microphones. the next stop is a lookout. you see over there in that tower? that's north korea. you can see the north korean flag flying right there. and that village right underneath, that is what north korea calls the peace village. but south korea refers to it as propaganda village. propaganda, because the u.s. doesn't believe anyone actually lives here. this is all for show. one of the world's most lethal borders is up close, just a fence, barbed wire and a trench. this zone, the dmz, uninhabitable, so untouched that endangered wildlife and plant species soar here. in a bizarre contradiction of the war's edge, tourists are allowed to go view this lookout, where we meet these brothers. >> it's a little surreal knowing just a few hundred yards that way, there are people starving and being tortured and so forth. it's just unreal. >> i had a lot of people asking

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The Situation Room-20130410-22:04:00

north and the south. it was created at the end of the korean war, some 60 years ago. and it could be a front line if -- if -- a new war erupted. cnn's kyung lah has more on what's going on. what else is going on, kyung? >> calle . >> reporter: wolf, when you go to the border, you certainly get a sense of how it feels between the two countries. remember, the korean war ended at armistice. it never really truly ended, and that's apparent at the border with a thin line between these two countries. there is near absolute silence in the most mill tarrized border on the planet. south korean soldiers on the edge of a fight, staring down a sworn enemy, that unblinkingly stares right back. sometimes through binoculars peeking out from windows.

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The Situation Room-20130410-22:07:00

me, family friends if i was afraid to come over here. and i, too, knowing the history was like, no, i think it's going to be okay. >> reporter: a peek into a reclusive nation while the world guesses what move it will make next. as tense as it is right up at the border, people who are there frequently at the dmz say they haven't noticed any discernible change, especially on the north. they haven't noticed there's anything that they're doing differently. but remember, wolf, this is where we see the theater of war to avoid real war. wolf? >> kyung, you're back in seoul now. that's only 20 or 30 miles from the demilitarized zones. a city of many, many millions of people. i assume everyone there recognizes they're within easy artillery range of the thousands of artillery pieces the north koreans have just north of the demilitarized zone? >> calle >> reporter: oh, yeah, everybody knows they can get in their car

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The Situation Room-20130410-22:00:00

as a family, we've evolved. because of certainly -- certainly because of what happened. so it's brought us all closer together. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. this is "the situation room" special report, the north korean crisis. happening now, kim jong-un keeps the world on edge. his missiles could launch literally at any moment. and there are new signs he won't stop with just one provocation. plus, cnn's rare visit to the dividing line between north and south korea. it's the most mill tarrized border on the planet, where the threat of war is very real. and like something out of the and like something out of the movie "the godfather." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we begin the hour with the

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