Panmunjom, Korea ? There’s little to suggest that any threat of devastation hangs over Seoul. One of Asia’s most energetic cities, its rush-hour traffic is a nightmare of shiny, air-conditioned cars at a standstill, new high-rises are forever shooting up out of cluttered construction sites, and merchants hustle from dawn to dusk.

But in less time than it takes most people to commute to work, you’re at the doorstep of North Korea, communist alter ego of the buoyantly capitalist South. This is Panmunjom, the “truce village” and a meeting point of the two Koreas — ground zero of what’s left of the Cold War.

“Every day is exactly the same, exactly the same, exactly the same,” says Capt. Brian Davis of Rye Brook, N.Y., who is stationed at the Demilitarized Zone. He says it reminds him of “Groundhog Day,” the comedic movie in which a man trapped in time lives the same day over and over.

“Groundhog Day” in its unfunny, nuclear-tinged Korean format marks a milestone on July 27 — the 50th anniversary of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. The guns may have fallen silent, but North Korea’s suspected attempts to develop atomic weapons highlight the potential for another, even more destructive conflict. The armistice is a reminder of the failure to achieve a lasting peace, but it’s also a date largely forgotten by South Koreans.

“It is not something to celebrate, just something to accept as a fact,” said Paik Sun-yup, a retired South Korean general who fought in the 1,127-day war that left up to 5 million people dead, wounded or missing, half of them civilians.

President Truman’s attempt to contain the spread of communism without sparking a wider war with China or the Soviet Union cost 33,600 American lives in combat, with more than 8,000 missing. About 140,000 South Korean soldiers and 3,200 from the 15 nations that joined the United States under the U.N. flag also died.

Communist military deaths — North Koreans and the Chinese who intervened five months into the war — are estimated in the hundreds of thousands.

More than 1,500 veterans will gather July 27 at Panmunjom for an hourlong ceremony ending at 10 a.m., the hour the armistice was signed 50 years ago. Twelve hours later, the time the truce took effect will be marked with a 21-gun salute at U.S. military headquarters in Seoul.

North Korea’s propaganda machine casts the war as a victory, rather than the stalemate that it was. Its government hasn’t announced any commemorations, but is expected to do so with choreographed rallies and defiant, anti-American rhetoric. These will likely be held in Pyongyang, 90 miles from the demilitarized zone.

South Korean women stroll in front of Korean War sculptures at Seoul's War Museum. Next Sunday, the 50th armistice day will be celebrated at Panmunjom, truce

The war was one of stunning reversals. Seoul changed hands four times and was almost destroyed. The U.S.-led forces were twice routed, while the Inchon landings led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur were considered among the most daring and successful amphibious operations in history.

Its legacy is 37,000 U.S. troops still on Korean soil.