How an eerie abandoned US base near North Korea turned into an art haven

An art installation inside the military base

Sitting along the "demilitarised zone" between North and South Korea is Camp Greaves, a former US Army base which is now a large interactive gallery for local artists. Artist: Kim Myeong-beom

US troops arrived at Camp Greaves in 1953 during the Korean War and were stationed there for the next 50 years. It is pretty much walking distance from a massive, deadly array of firepower currently aligned by both sides of the Korean frontier. Artist: Jung Bo-kyung

One of the most arresting images comes early. Behind a heavy metal door is the interior of a powder magazine ammunition storage area. Staring straight at you is a model of deer with huge antlers that extend and interlace to become a tree. Artist: Kim Myeong-beom

The skin is from a real deer brought in from the United States. This is a reference to the home of the US personnel who served here and alludes to how the site has been returned to nature. Artist: Kim Myeong-beom

An artist collected clothes from the area and stuffed them into the front of one of the many overgrown huts of the 506th Infantry Regiment. Artist: Chung Mun-kyung

On the floor of one of these huts you can still see webbing, belts, pouches and packs that once belonged to US soldiers and have been left strewn across the floor.

Entering the old bowling alley you cross a beam triggering light and sound. At first you are clearly seeing and hearing fireworks but slowly the sound all round you becomes more and more like gunfire. Eventually you realise you are watching the night vision of an actual firefight: From celebration to the cold reality of killing. Artist: Park Seong-jun

The names of 154 American soldiers killed in skirmishes along the demilitarised zone even after the end of Korean War hostilities are beamed against a wall. The years 1967 and 1968 were particularly deadly. In the background, recordings of soldiers can be heard chanting their way through drills.

Wandering around you feel like you have stepped onto the set of a post-nuclear devastation science fiction movie but this deserted cold war facility is the real thing.

USFK

At times up to 700 military personnel were stationed at Camp Greaves. It is today next to a fully active base and you can hear Korean soldiers firing rifles in the distance, training for the war they hope will never again erupt. (All image by Hosu Lee, BBC News.)

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