Photographers captured these dismal scenes along the border area between North and South Korea

The world is watching the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) — a land strip that runs across the Korean Peninsula and serves as a buffer between North and South Korea — with bated breath.

For the first time since 2015, leaders from both countries sat down to discuss North Korea's potential involvement in the Winter Olympics next month. Many are hopeful that the reopening of communication could mean future peace and cooperation for the Koreas.

The meeting took place in the three-story Peace House inside the Joint Security Area, a site in the DMZ used for diplomatic engagements between the two nations.

Over the past two years, Reuters photographers Jung Yeon-Je and Kim Hong-Ji have traveled to the DMZ — which is not open to the public — and returned with these incredible photos.

SEE ALSO: A photographer captured these surreal photos of North Korea’s capital on a state-sanctioned tour

There's an eerie quiet across the DMZ — the most heavily fortified border in the world.

It creates a buffer between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). The zone stretches 160 miles long and 2.5 miles wide.

In some places, barbed wire and landmines separate each country from the zone.