The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) has separated North and South Korea since the Military Armistice Agreement was signed after the Korean War in 1953. The Military Demarcation Line (MDL) stretches 248 km / 154 mi across the middle of the Korean peninsula. The DMZ is comprised of (2 km / 1.24 mi-wide in most places) buffer zones on both sides of the MDL. The DMZ remains the most heavily fortified frontier in the world. A peace treaty was never signed, so the two sides are still technically at war. On July 27, 2003, Korean War veterans gathered at Panmunjeom in the DMZ, the truce village where the armistice was signed, to mark the 50th anniversary of the truce.